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THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 
OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 

THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKYO,  OSAKA,  KYOTO,  PDKUOKA,  BBNDAI 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 

SHANGHAI 


The  Psychological  and  Ethical 

Aspects  of  Mormon 

Group  Life 


By 
EPHRAIM  EDWARD  ERICKSEN 

Professor  of  Philosophy,   University  of  Utah 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Copyright  1922  By 
THEiUmvERSiTY  of  Chicago 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  September  1922 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois.  U.S.A. 


TO  MY 
FATHER  AND  MOTHER 


PREFACE 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  interpret  the  life-history  of  the 
Mormon  group  in  the  scientific  spirit,  and,  in  so  far  as  the  present 
methods  of  social  and  psychological  investigation  are  adequate,  to  get  at 
fundamental  psychological  and  ethical  principles.  I  realize,  however, 
that  the  Mormon  group  life  is  extremely  complex,  as  is  every  social  unit, 
and  cannot  be  stated  in  simple  terms.  I  realize  also  my  own  limitations 
in  dealing  with  the  problem.  One  who  has  been  associated  all  his  life 
with  the  Mormon  people,  as  I  have  been,  is  sure  to  have  formed  prejudices 
and  conceptions  which  render  an  objective  and  impartial  study  of  them 
extremely  difficult.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  inner  life  of  the  group, 
its  sentiments,  and  ideals,  can  be  comprehended  only  by  one  who  has 
actually  experienced  them.  I  therefore  regard  myself  as  justified  in 
attempting  to  describe  and  interpret  the  sentiments  which  I  have  to  a 
certain  extent  experienced  in  common  with  the  group. 

In  this  work  I  do  not  pretend  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  Mormon 
history.  The  accounts  of  historical  events  have  been  purposely  reduced 
to  very  brief  statements  in  order  to  give  greater  prominence  to  the  psy- 
chological aspects  of  the  different  situations  in  which  the  Mormon  group 
was  placed.  It  is  the  group  sentiments  with  which  we  are  here  con- 
cerned, and  particularly  the  genetic  development  of  Mormon  group 
consciousness. 

In  so  far  as  I  have  succeeded  in  making  this  work  scientific  it  has 
been  through  the  influence  of  the  instructors  in  the  departments  of 
philosophy  and  political  economy  in  the  University  of  Chicago.  I  am 
especially  indebted  to  Professors  James  H.  Tufts,  George  H.  Mead,  and 
Edward  S.  Ames,  for  the  ethical  and  psychological  point  of  view.  For 
methods  of  investigation  and  organization  of  material  I  must  acknowl- 
edge the  help  which  I  have  received  from  the  late  Professor  Robert  Hoxie 
and  from  Professor  James  Laurence  Laughlin,  of  the  Department  of 
Political  Economy. 

In  the  collecting  of  the  material  as  well  as  its  interpretation  I  am 
deeply  indebted  to  my  wife,  who  collected  much  valuable  source  material 
which  I  otherwise  would  not  have  received. 

Ephraim  Edward  Ericksen 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Introduction 3 

The  Psychological  Point  of  View.  Description  of  Mormon 
Ideals  and  Institutions.  Mormonism  as  an  Accumulation  of 
Sentiments. 

PART  I.     MALADJUSTMENT  BETWEEN  MORMONS 
AND  GENTILES 

II.  The  Origin  of  Mormonism  and  the  Beginning  of  Conflict        13 
The  Relation  of  the  Prophet  to  the  Group.     The  Imitation 
of    Ancient    Israel.     The    Conflict    between    Mormonism    and 
Christian  Traditions.     The  Origin  of  Mormon  Economic  Ideals. 

III.  Zion  in  Missouri — Group  Consciousness  as  the  Cause  of 
Conflict 18 

The  Establishment  of  Zion.  Causes  of  the  Conflict  in 
Missouri.  How  Group  Sentiment  Developed.  Mob  Spirit  as 
the  Outcome  of  Group  Consciousness. 

IV.  Zion  in  Illinois — An  Independent  City 25 

Group  Sentiment  Affects  Only  the  Conflicting  Groups. 
Significance  of  Group  Solidarity.  Joseph  Smith  Expresses  the 
Spirit  of  the  Group.     Lasting  Effect  of  the  Group  Conflicts. 

PART  II.     MALADJUSTMENT  BETWEEN  MORMONS 
AND  NATURE 

V.  The  Mormon  Migration — From  a  Conflict  with  Men  to  a 

Struggle  with  Nature 35 

A  New  Type  of  Leadership.  The  New  Problems.  The 
Organization  for  the  New  Life. 

VI.  Mormon  Colonization 40 

The  Colonization  Problem.  The  Irrigation  Problem.  The 
Establishment  of  Colonies.  The  Population  Problem.  The 
Success  of  Mormon  Enterprises. 

VII.  Industrial   and    Commercial    Co-operation  — The    United 

Order 49 

The  Demand  for  Co-operative  Methods.  The  Manufactur- 
ing Problem.  Zion's  Co-operative  Movement.  The  Decline  of 
the  Co-operative  Enterprise. 


x  CONTENTS 

PART  III.     MALADJUSTMENT  BETWEEN  NEW  THOUGHT 
AND  OLD  INSTITUTIONS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VIII.  The  Innovation  of  Science  and  Democracy     ....         59 
The  Conditions  of  Internal  Conflict.     The  Growing  Spirit  of 
Individualism.     The   Influence  of   Mormon   Priesthood.     Con- 
flict between  Dogmas  and  the  Scientific  Spirit. 

IX.  The  Church  and  Business 66 

Traditional  Character  of  the  Mormon  Economic  Life.  The 
Changing  Attitude  toward  the  Tithing  System.  The  Centralized 
Control  of  Church  Revenues.  The  Pecuniary  Point  of  View  of 
Church  Leaders. 

X.  Conflicts  in  the  Mormon  Marriage  Institutions  ...         73 
Origin  and  History  of  Mormon  Polygamy.     The  Relation  of 
Polygamy  to  the  Social  Ideal.    The  Conflicting  Attitudes  toward 
Polygamy. 

XI.  The  Ethics  of  Mormonism 80 

The  Significance  of  the  Life-History  of  a  Group.  The 
Ethical  Study.  The  Period  of  Mormon  Group  Ethics.  The 
Utilitarian  Stage  of  Mormon  Ethics.     The  Formal  Stage. 

XII.  The  Possibilities  for  Adjustment 96 

The  Two  General  Points  of  View.  The  Negative  Character 
of  Criticism.  The  Reconstructive  Factors  in  Mormonism.  A 
Demand  for  a  New  Problem. 

Index 103 


INTRODUCTION 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

According  to  functional  psychology,  development  in  the  life  of  the 
individual  is  marked  by  a  series  of  crises.  Meaning  grows  out  of  con- 
scious behavior,  but  behavior  becomes  conscious  only  when  a  maladjust- 
ment exists  between  the  individual  and  his  environment.  Consciousness 
becomes  most  alert  and  active  when  there  is  a  need  for  adjustment. 
Under  ordinary  conditions  instincts  and  habits  direct  the  conduct  of  the 
individual  but  when  a  new  situation  presents  itself  these  forms  of  control 
are  inadequate  and  must  be  directed  by  consciousness.  Instincts  and 
habits  tend  to  maintain  that  level  of  behavior  already  established,  but 
it  is  the  factor  of  consciousness  which  accounts  for  present  standards  of 
conduct;  it  is  this  extraordinary  form  of  control  which  inhibits  instincts, 
breaks  up  old  habits,  and  initiates  new  modes  of  behavior.  These  crises 
may  thus  be  regarded  as  the  essential  causes  of  the  individual's  mental 
attitude,  his  sentiments,  and  concepts,  as  well  as  the  characteristic 
organization  of  his  thinking. 

This  principle  holds  in  social  evolution  as  well  as  in  individual 
adaptation.  A  problem  presenting  itself  requires  that  the  individual  or 
the  community  change  the  old  habits,  customs,  and  thought  and  estab- 
lish new  modes  of  behavior  suitable  to  the  new  situation.  Any  event, 
institution,  or  idea  which  facilitates  or  hinders  this  adjustment  receives 
attention  and  is  given  significance.  Thus  historians  are  beginning  to 
realize  that  the  unity  of  history  is  best  attained  if  the  great  problems 
which  the  people  encounter  are  made  the  basis  of  discussion  and  if  the 
historical  events  and  characters  are  given  importance  according  to  the 
part  they  have  played  in  the  larger  social  adjustments. 

This  thesis  is  an  attempt  to  apply  the  principles  of  functional  psy- 
chology to  Mormon  history.  The  latter  is  here  conceived  as  a  process 
of  mental  and  social  adaptation.  The  discussion  divides  itself  into  three 
parts  on  the  basis  of  three  great  maladjustments.  The  material  selected 
for  discussion  and  the  points  emphasized  have  all  been  determined  by 
their  relationship  to  these  larger  problems.  The  first  part  is  a  discussion 
of  the  conflict  between  the  Mormons  and  Gentiles  and  is  an  analysis  of 
the  psychological  and  sociological  factors  involved.  The  second  part 
deals  with  the  maladjustment  between  the  Mormon  people  and  nature  in 


4  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

the  desert  region  of  the  Great  Basin.  An  effort  is  here  made  to  define 
the  problem  and  to  present  the  Mormons'  method  of  co-operation 
employed  in  its  solution.  We  shall  also  observe  here  the  reopening  of 
the  conflict  between  the  Mormons  and  the  Gentiles,  caused  in  part  by 
the  economic  competition  between  local  institutions  and  eastern  factories 
and  business  houses,  which  resulted  from  the  extension  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  into  the  Territory,  and  in  part  by  the  practice  of  polygamy  which 
caused  friction  with  the  United  States  government.  The  third  part  is  a 
discussion  of  the  present  maladjustment,  a  conflict  between  the  Mormon 
institutions  and  traditions  on  the  one  hand  and  the  innovations  of  science 
and  the  new  democratic  spirit  on  the  other. 

In  the  present  chapter  it  is  intended  to  give  a  general  description  of 
the  social  ideal  of  Mormonism,  its  organization,  and  system  of  revenue. 
But,  since  the  purpose  of  this  thesis  is  to  deal  with  ideals  and  institutions 
as  they  developed  in  the  community,  only  those  most  characteristic  need 
be  described  here.  There  are,  however,  elements  which  seem  to  have 
functioned  either  positively  or  negatively  throughout  the  entire  life  of 
Mormonism.  To  state  the  factors  in  an  introductory  way  may  help  the 
reader  to  see  at  the  outset  the  nature  of  the  problems. 

Mormonism  embraces  the  economic  and  the  political  as  well  as  the 
religious  life  of  its  adherents.  Its  ideals  are  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual. 
The  material  welfare  of  the  community  has  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
ecclesiastical  leaders  quite  as  much  as  have  the  purely  religious  matters. 
Every  president  of  the  church  from  Joseph  Smith,  the  founder  of  the  reli- 
gion, to  Joseph  F.  Smith,  the  recent  leader,  has  established  colonies,  built 
factories,  and  promoted  mercantile  institutions,1  The  ideal  social  order 
is  the  "Kingdom  of  God"  or  "Zion,"  a  concept  which,  to  the  Mormons, 
means  a  community  of  prosperous  people  as  well  as  a  community  of 
righteous  people.  To  build  temples  in  which  the  "pure  in  heart"  might 
worship  is  a  sacred  task  but  no  more  so  than  to  establish  industries  in 
which  the  "  chosen  people  "  might  be  employed.  The  church  is  in  reality 
a  theocracy.  God  is  its  supreme  temporal  and  spiritual  ruler.  Through 
his  priesthood  he  directs  the  affairs  of  the  commonwealth  and  of  the 
religious  body.  In  this  ideal  order  only  one  set  of  statutes  or  laws  exists 
and  they  are  God's  commands  which  serve  the  purpose  of  both  " Church 
and  Kingdom."2 

1  "It  has  always  been  a  cardinal  teaching  with  the  Latter-Day  Saints,"  says  the 
late  President  Joseph  F.  Smith,  "that  a  religion  which  has  not  the  power  to  save 
people  temporarily  and  make  them  prosperous  and  happy  here  cannot  be  depended 
upon  to  save  them  spiritually,  to  exalt  them  in  the  life  to  come" — Out  West,  XXIII,  242. 

2  Keeler,  Lesser  Priesthood,  p.  57. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  5 

But,  according  to  original  Mormon  doctrine,  the  "Kingdom  of  God" 
cannot  be  built  up  under  the  present  economic  conditions.  The  individ- 
ual accumulation  of  wealth  must  be  abolished  before  the  ideal  spiritual 
relationship  can  exist.  The  highest  spiritual  and  moral  life  cannot 
develop  under  a  system  of  individual  ownership.  AU^ea,lthJ3elongs  to 
th^Lord  and  it  is  to  be  used  in  the  furtherance  of  his  cause.  Property 
and  human  effort  have  but  one  purpose,  the  establishment  of  Zion. 
The  ideal  economic  relationship,  emphasized  more  in  early  Mormon 
history  than  now,  is  called  by  them  the  "United  Order."  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  late  President  Joseph  F.  Smith: 

The  "United  Order"  is  a  religo-social  system  communal  in  its  character, 
designed  to  abolish  poverty,  monopoly,  and  kindred  evils,  and  to  bring  about 
unity  and  equality  in  temporal  and  spiritual  things.  It  requires  the  consecra- 
tion to  the  church,  by  its  members  of  all  their  properties,  and  the  subsequent 
distribution  to  those  members,  by  the  church,  of  what  were  termed,  steward- 
ship. Each  holder  of  a  stewardship  which  might  be  some  farm,  workshop, 
store,  or  factory  that  this  same  person  had  consecrated — was  expected  to 
manage  it  thereafter  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  community,  all  his  gains 
revert  to  a  common  fund,  from  which  he  would  derive  a  sufficient  support  for 
himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him.  The  bishop  being  the  temporal 
officer  of  the  church,  received  the  consecrations  of  these  properties,  and  also 
assigned  the  stewardships;  but  he  performed  his  duty  under  the  direction  of 

the  First  Presidency * 

This  order  is  regarded  as  a  system  patterned  after  that  which  the  apostles 
of  Christ  set  up  in  Jerusalem  in  which  they  had  all  things  in  common.2 
The  Mormons  also  believe  that  it  was  this  divine  order  which  "sanctified 
the  City  of  Enoch." 

The  term  priesthood  in  the  Mormon  church  stands  for  authority  as 
well  as  signifying  a  special  calling.  There  are  only  two  priesthoods  in 
the  church  but  there  are  many  degrees  of  authority.  Each  of  the  two 
orders  or  grand  divisions  is  subdivided  into  groups  of  offices  embodying 
different  degrees  of  authority  and  demanding  different  kinds  of  responsi- 
bility. An  individual,  for  example,  is  ordained  to  the  Melchisedek 
Priesthood  in  the  office  of  an  Elder,  Seventy,  or  High-Priest.  Or  he  may 
be  ordained  to  the  Aaronic  Priesthood  in  the  office  of  Deacon,  Teacher, 
or  Priest.  In  general,  offices  in  the  Melchisedek  order  are  higher  and  of 
a  more  spiritual  character  while  those  of  the  Aaronic  priesthood  are  of  a 
temporal  nature  and  carry  a  lesser  degree  of  authority.  Such  a  distinc- 
tion, however,  holds  only  in  a  general  way.  Both  priesthoods  have,  to 
a  certain  extent,  both  spiritual  and  temporal  functions.    All  matters 

1  Out  West,  XXIII,  244.         2  Acts  4: 34~35- 


6  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

of  church  interest  are  directed  by  officers  in  the  Melchisedek  priesthood. 
The  president  of  the  church  who  holds  the  higher  order  of  authority  has, 
in  theory  at  least,  unlimited  power  in  all  matters  of  church  interest,  both 
spiritual  and  temporal.  The  presiding  bishop,  who  is  also  of  the  higher 
order,  directs  in  all  those  matters  which  pertain  to  the  collection  of  tith- 
ing and  church  revenues.1  The  local  bishop,  unless  he,  through  revela- 
tion, is  declared  to  be  a  direct  descendant  of  Aaron,  holds  the  Melchise- 
dek priesthood.  His  special  calling  is  to  preside  over  a  local  church 
community  and  to  direct  in  both  temporal  and  spiritual  affairs. 

The  revenue  system  of  the  church  adds  greatly  to  its  strength  and  to 
the  effectiveness  of  its  efforts.  There  are  three  main  sources  of  revenue, 
the  tithing,  income  from  property  holdings,  and  free-will  offerings.  The 
first  two  represent  permanent  and  increasing  incomes,  the  third  comes  in 
the  form  of  donations  presented  at  times  and  in  amounts  determined  by 
the  need  of  the  occasion  and  the  ability  and  disposition  of  the  giver. 
The  tithing  is  like  an  income  tax  except  that  instead  of  having  a  variable 
rate  dependent  on  the  income,  the  tithing  calls  for  10  per  cent  regardless 
of  what  the  individuals'  earnings  may  be.  The  collection  of  tithing  is, 
however,  free  from  all  coercion  except  such  as  the  social  and  psychologi- 
cal consequences  may  impose.  The  following  is  the  "commandment"' 
regarding  tithing.  It  is  typical  of  all  the  revelations  which  Joseph 
Smith  presented  to  his  people. 

Verily  thus  sayeth  the  Lord,  I  require  all  their  surplus  property  to  be  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  bishop  of  my  church  of  Zion.  For  the  building  of  mine  house 
and  for  the  laying  of  the  foundation  of  Zion  and  for  the  priesthood,  and  for  the 
debts  of  the  presidency  of  my  church: 

And  this  shall  be  the  beginning  of  the  tithing  of  my  people;  and  after 
that  those  who  have  thus  been  tithed  shall  pay  one  tenth  of  all  their  interests 
annually;  and  this  shall  be  a  standing  law  unto  them  for  ever,  for  my  holy 
priesthood  sayeth  the  Lord.3 

The  law  of  tithing  was  instituted  in  Missouri  immediately  after  the 
discontinuance  of  the  law  of  consecration  or  United  Order.4  It  was  not 
intended,  however,  to  do  away  with  the  latter  law.  The  United  Order, 
although  it  is  not  often  referred  to  by  the  present  authorities  of  the 
church,  is  still  regarded  by  many  as  the  ideal  economic  system. 

1  Keeler,  op.  cit.,  p.  116. 

1  The  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  are  compiled  in  a  book  called  Doctrine  and 
Covenants.  To  the  Mormon  people  its  content  is  of  great  importance,  ranking  equal 
with  that  of  the  Bible. 

J  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  119 : 1-4. 

*  Joseph  F.  Smith,  Eighty-fifth  Conference  Report,  pp.  139-40. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  7 

The  source  of  revenue  next  in  importance  to  tithing  is  that  derived 
from  church  property  holdings.  The  church  holds  stock  in  some  of 
the  leading  corporations  of  the  state.  Among  these  are  sugar  factories, 
salt  manufactures,  and  mercantile  institutions.  It  was  the  policy  of 
the  church,  when  there  was  insufficient  private  capital  in  the  state,  to 
invest  in  enterprises  which  it  regarded  as  needful  in  the  community. 
From  these  investments  the  church  draws  a  revenue  quite  sufficient  to 
pay  the  salaries  of  all  church  officials  who  are  compensated  by  the  church. 

The  free-will  offering  is  much  less  in  amount  than  either  of  the  above- 
named  sources.  The  bulk  of  these  offerings  is  received  on  "Fast-day," 
the  first  Sunday  in  each  month,  which  is  a  day  of  general  fasting.  The 
equivalent  value  of  the  food  thus  saved  is  turned  over  to  the  local  bishop 
for  the  support  of  the  poor.  These  contributions  are  immediately  dis- 
tributed to  the  poor  for  the  purchase  of  food,  clothing,  etc.  Another 
source  of  revenue  is  known  as  the  "Relief  Society"  donations.  Every 
woman  in  the  church  is  expected  to  make  regular  contributions  to  this 
fund  which  also  goes  to  the  support  of  the  poor  in  the  church. 

This  brief  analysis  of  the  ideals  and  institutions  which  are  most 
characteristic  of  Mormon  life  prepares  the  way  for  a  more  detailed  study 
of  the  larger  problems.  These  factors,  combined  with  human  prejudices 
and  persecutions  on  the  one  hand  and  the  forces  of  the  physical  environ- 
ment on  the  other  hand,  have  determined  Mormon  history  as  well  as 
the  present  spirit  and  life  of  the  group.  The  relationship  of  these  factors 
and  their  relative  importance  will  be  made  obvious  when  we  consider 
them  in  connection  with  the  great  maladjustments  of  Mormon  history. 

But  this  attempt  to  define  Mormonism  in  terms  of  its  aims  and 
institutions  should  serve  only  to  give  a  general  notion  of  the  system.  It 
is  by  no  means  intended  to  be  a  full  description.  The  ideals  and  institu- 
tions have  themselves  only  relative  or  functional  meaning.  Processes  of 
elimination,  modification,  and  accumulation  are  constantly  taking  place. 
Like  every  other  social  system  Mormonism  has  been  forced  to  adjust 
itself  to  varying  circumstances.  This  has  been  true  notwithstanding  the 
tendency  within  the  church  to  regard  the  system  as  universal  and 
eternal  and  entirely  beyond  human  control.  And  notwithstanding  the 
appropriation  of  many  of  the  ideals  and  institutions  of  ancient  Israel 
the  group  has  absorbed  sentiments  and  ideas  from  its  social  environment. 

This  thesis  endeavors  to  account  for  the  structure  and  aims  of 
Mormonism  through  a  study  of  its  life-history.  The  writer  maintains 
that  ideals  were  developed  and  institutions  were  formulated  in  the  course 
of  this  history  and  that  many  of  these  ideals  and  the  essential  forms  of 


8  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

social  control  as  well  were  given  birth  through  a  strongly  felt  need  for 
them.  These  institutions  in  turn  reacted  upon  the  life  of  the  community, 
and  thus  the  effect  became  also  a  cause.  So  important  did  these  second- 
ary causes  become  that  many  people  have  identified  Mormonism  with 
them.  They  have  been  regarded  as  its  very  essence.  For  example,  to 
some  people  Mormonism  means  polygamy,  to  others  it  means  commun- 
ism, and  others  identify  it  with  revelation,  belief  in  divine  authority,  or 
conceptions  of  baptism  for  the  living  and  the  dead.  Mormonism  is  not 
to  be  identified  with  any  one  of  these  doctrines  or  with  the  entire  sum  of 
them.  Its  essential  characteristics  are  not  found  in  its  theology.  A  large 
part  of  its  theology  is  copied  from  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  To 
find  the  true  meaning  of  Mormonism  we  must  go  to  its  group  sentiments. 
If  we  are  to  comprehend  its  life  we  must  analyze  its  spiritual  life,  we  must 
study  the  problems  which  have  confronted  the  people  and  the  sentiments 
derived  from  the  struggle  with  them.  We  must  observe  Mormonism  in 
the  periods  of  its  greatest  activity. 

The  great  conflicts  and  struggles  of  the  Mormon  people,  those 
events  in  the  life  of  the  group  which  have  received  the  focus  of  attention 
and  which  were  felt  as  vital  experiences  by  the  entire  group,  are  here 
considered  to  be  the  essential  causes  of  their  sentiments  and  ideals  as 
well  as  conditions  out  of  which  many  of  their  institutions  developed. 
We  are  thus  concerned  with  analyzing  problems,  rather  than  following 
the  sequence  of  historical  events.  We  are  more  concerned  with  the 
attitudes,  sentiments,  and  ideas  in  relation  to  events  than  we  are  with 
the  events  themselves.  That  which  transpires  externally  is  here  con- 
sidered less  significant  than  the  reaction  which  follows  in  the  conscious 
life  of  the  community.  It  is  the  ideals  and  sentiments  resulting  from 
experience  rather  than  the  experiences  themselves  which  reveals  the 
true  life  of  a  people.  Special  attention  will  therefore  be  given  to  direct 
statements  and  expressions  of  sentiment. 

But  sentiments  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  independent  of  the  active  life 
of  a  community.  They  develop  out  of  the  social  intercourse  which  takes 
place  in  connection  with  the  larger  economic,  social,  and  religious  prob- 
lems of  the  community.  The  greater  the  problems  are  the  stronger  will 
the  sentiments  become.  But  these  economic  and  social  problems  are  to 
be  regarded  also  as  the  effect  of  the  psychological  life.  In  other  words 
an  external  situation  becomes  a  problem  only  when  it  is  conceived  as 
such.  The  relation  between  the  subjective  and  the  objective  life  is 
reciprocal.  The  Mormon  people  were  confronted  by  great  problems  in 
their  relations  with  the  people  of  Missouri  and  Illinois  and  in  their 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  9 

struggle  for  life  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  country  and  these  problems 
created  strong  sentiments  among  the  individuals  who  were  co-operatively 
engaged  in  the  struggle.  On  the  other  hand,  these  group  sentiments 
thus  created  reacted  upon  the  objective  life. 

To  explain  the  Mormon  community  life  in  terms  of  its  whole  life- 
process,  its  conflicts,  its  struggles,  its  crises,  is  the  problem  of  this  thesis. 
Although  there  were  notions  advocated  by  Joseph  Smith  which  were 
antecedent  to  the  conflict  and  which  really  occasioned  it  yet  these  were 
not  important  in  themselves.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  conflict  which 
forced  them  upon  the  attention,  they  would  perhaps  not  have  survived. 
It  is  group  conflict  and  struggles  which  have  created  and  maintained  the 
basic  Mormon  sentiments. 


PART  I.    MALADJUSTMENT  BETWEEN 
MORMONS  AND  GENTILES 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  MORMONISM  AND  THE 
BEGINNING  OF  CONFLICT 

Since  the  social  point  of  view  is  the  one  proposed  in  this  study  the 
method  to  be  followed  is  pragmatic  rather  than  analytic.  The  special 
emphasis  will  be  upon  the  consequences  of  the  Mormon  institutions  and 
methods  rather  than  upon  the  origin.  Institutions  are  made  and  ideals 
are  formed  in  the  process  of  adjustment.  Neither  the  individual  con- 
sciousness nor  the  social  life  will  indulge  in  absolute  luxuries.  If  an 
idea  or  an  attitude  or  an  institution  is  to  long  remain  it  must  serve  some 
purpose,  at  least  it  must  function  in  adjustment.  The  very  fact  that  a 
social  system  continues  and  grows  gives  evidence  that  it  meets  some 
human  need  although  it  may  be  the  mere  satisfaction  of  a  very  primitive 
and  artificial  desire.  The  aim  here  is,  therefore,  not  to  pass  judgment 
upon  the  absolute  Tightness  or  wrongness  of  the  Mormon  system  but 
rather  to  recognize  its  problems  and  to  evaluate  its  elements  by  consider- 
ing the  part  they  play  in  the  solution  of  these  problems.  "In  the  end," 
says  James,  "  Christian  mysticism  had  to  come  to  our  empiricist  criterion: 

'By   their  fruits  ye   shall  know   them';     not  by   their  roots 

The  roots  of  man's  virtue  are  inaccessible  to  us."1  Furthermore,  the 
validity  of  a  religion  should  not  be  judged  by  the  neurotic  constitution 
of  its  author.  He  says:  "In  the  natural  sciences  and  industrial  arts  it 
never  occurs  to  any  one  to  try  to  refute  opinion  by  showing  up  their 

author's  neurotic  constitution It  should  not  be  otherwise  with 

religious  opinions.  Their  value  can  only  be  ascertained  by  the  spiritual 
judgments  directly  passed  upon  them."2 

Joseph  Smith  met  with  extraordinary  success  in  establishing  his 
ideals  in  the  minds  of  his  followers.  In  less  than  a  year  he  succeeded  in 
bringing  hundreds  to  his  way  of  thinking.  Before  his  death  thousands 
had  joined  the  church.  What  is  the  explanation?  To  the  orthodox 
Mormon  it  is  simple.  It  was  the  voice  of  God  speaking  through  his 
prophet.  Christ  had  called  them  and  they  knew  the  voice  of  their 
shepherd.  It  was  the  spirit  of  God  or  the  "still  small  voice"  which 
brought  conviction  to  their  souls.  To  the  opposing  religious  dogmatist 
the  answer  is  likewise  simple.     To  him  Joseph  Smith  was  an  agent  of 

1  James,  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,  pp.  17-18.         a  Loc.  cit. 

13 


14  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

Lucifer.  The  followers  of  Joseph  Smith  were  deceived.  Satan  had 
tempted  them  and  they  fell  into  darkness.  Neither  answer  satisfies  the 
true  scientist  who  knows  man  only,  on  the  one  hand,  through  his  social 
and  physical  environment  and,  on  the  other  hand,  through  the  response 
he  makes  to  this  environment. 

Mormonism  had  its  beginning  in  an  environment,  physically  and 
socially,  of  a  most  primitive  character.  Western  New  York,  the  place 
of  its  inception,  was  in  1830,  little  more  than  a  wilderness.  The  boy 
prophet  was  limited  very  seriously  in  educational  opportunities.  For 
him  and  his  associates  the  Bible  was  practically  the  only  literature. 
Schools  were  conducted  for  only  a  few  weeks  during  the  winter.  The 
church  was  the  one  means  of  social  intercourse.  But  this  sort  of  social 
intercourse  was  found  in  abundance.  It  was  rich  with  spiritual  sug- 
gestions and  dominated  the  entire  social  consciousness.  Religious 
revivals  were  frequently  held  and  the  minds  of  the  people  were  very  sus- 
ceptible to  mystical  phenomena.  The  stories  of  the  Bible  seemed  very 
real  to  them  and  they  naturally  embodied  their  ideals  in  Abraham, 
Jacob,  Moses,  and  other  Old  Testament  prophets  who  talked  with  God 
face  to  face. 

But  in  addition  to  the  mystical  and  highly  spiritual  environment 
which  was  undoubtedly  favorable  to  the  acceptance  of  the  new  revela- 
tions, there  were,  in  the  personality  of  Joseph  Smith,  elements  charac- 
teristic of  a  religious  genius.  He  was  emotional,  impulsive  and  spiritual- 
minded.  He  was  uneducated,  yet  he  possessed  considerable  native 
ability.  Few  men  seem  to  have  such  keen  insight  into  human  nature. 
This  ability  is  manifest  in  his  dealings  with  his  followers.  He  never 
imposed  his  views  upon  them  directly.  He  assumed  the  position  of  a 
prophet  and  spoke  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  In  a  most  tactful  way  he 
held  himself  separate  from  the  things  revealed.  Yet  he  was  by  no  means 
lost  to  the  consciousness  of  his  people.  On  the  contrary  he  was  the 
prophet  through  whom  God  revealed  himself;  he  was  the  means  whereby 
the  Lord  was  to  bring  about  a  wonderful  work.  Every  commandment 
must  be  revealed  through  him  before  it  could  become  law  to  the  com- 
munity or  the  individual  members. 

Another  method  which  he  employed  was  to  present  the  revelations 
as  nearly  as  he  could  in  Bible  language.  This  gave  to  them  a  divine  ring. 
It  made  his  followers  feel  that  they  were  living  a  life  such  as  that  of 
ancient  Israel,  that  a  prophet  was  in  reality  presenting  to  them  God's 
message.  To  a  people  who  idealized  the  past  as  did  the  Bible  readers 
of  the  frontier  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  such  language 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  15 

was  truly  divine.  The  language  of  the  Bible  was  the  language  of  God. 
This  ability  to  imitate  the  sacred  literature  was  thus  a  source  of  strength 
to  the  modern  prophet. 

But  Joseph  Smith  not  only  imitated  the  language  of  the  Bible  but  he 
appropriated  all  the  institutions  and  ideals  of  ancient  Israel.  And  here 
we  find  the  cause  of  the  beginning  of  the  great  Mormon  and  non-Mormon 
conflict.  The  ideals  and  institutions  of  that  ancient  people  were  out  of 
harmony  with  Christian  tenets.  The  latter  had  made  the  other  world 
the  ideal  home  and  resting  place  for  the  faithful.  Mormonism,  in  its 
attempt  to  introduce  Israelitish  ideals,  was  setting  up  a  material  kingdom, 
a  Zion  on  earth.  To  the  Christian  world,  it  was  materialism  against 
mysticism,  carnality  against  spirituality.  In  the  Tenth  Article  of  Faith, 
Joseph  Smith,  in  speaking  for  the  people,  says:  "  We  believe  in  the  literal 
gathering  of  Israel  and  in  the  restoration  of  the  Ten  Tribes.     That  Zion 

will  be  built  upon  this  (American)  continent "     This  Zion  was 

more  than  a  mere  mental  state  or  spiritual  order  such  as  the  Christian 
world  held  up  as  its  ideal.  It  was  a  real  country  which  was  given  to  the 
Saints  of  God,  an  eternal  home  for  scattered  Israel,  a  land  which  was 
sanctified  and  blessed  for  the  select  children  of  God.  It  was  a  city  which 
the  Mormons  were  to  build  and  which  was  to  stand  over  against  all  non- 
Mormon  communities.     Here  is  the  revelation: 

And  I  hold  forth  and  deign  to  give  unto  you  greater  riches,  even  a  land  of 
promise,  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  upon  which  there  shall  be  no 
curse  when  the  Lord  cometh : 

And  I  will  give  it  unto  you  for  the  land  of  your  inheritance,  if  you  seek  it 
with  all  your  hearts: 

And  this  shall  be  my  covenant  with  you,  ye  shall  have  it  for  the  land  of 
your  inheritance,  and  for  the  inheritance  of  your  children  forever,  while  the 
earth  shall  stand,  and  ye  shall  possess  it  again  in  eternity,  no  more  to  pass 
away.1 

Thus  the  Mormons  were  called  out  of  Babylon,  the  country  of  the 
Gentiles,  to  inhabit  a  promised  land  just  as  Israel  was  called  out  of  Egypt. 
They  were  the  people  which  God  recognized  and  to  whom  he  would  grant 
special  favors.  Note  the  resemblance  between  the  foregoing  revelation 
to  the  Mormons  and  the  following  to  Abraham  and  ancient  Israel: 

And  the  Lord  said  unto  Abram,  ....  Lift  up  thine  eyes,  and  look  from 
the  place  where  thou  art,  northward,  and  southward,  and  eastward,  and 
westward : 

For  all  the  land  which  thou  seest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it  and  to  thy  seed 
forever. 

1  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  38 :  18-20. 


16  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

And  I  will  make  thy  seed  as  the  dust  of  the  earth:  so  that  if  a  man  can 
number  the  dust  of  the  earth,  then  shall  thy  seed  also  be  numbered.1 

This  promise  was  repeated  to  Israel. 

And  I  have  also  established  by  covenant  with  them,  to  give  them  the  land 
of  Canaan 

And  I  will  bring  you  in  unto  the  land,  concerning  which  I  did  swear  to 
give  it  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob ;  and  I  will  give  it  you  for  an  heritage.2 

In  contrast  with  the  material  kingdom  of  ancient  Israel  and  early 
Mormonism,  with  their  land  "flowing  with  milk  and  honey,"  their  flocks 
and  herds,  and  numerous  posterity,  is  the  Christian  blessedness  of  the 
spiritual  life  and  the  other  world,  "the  kingdom  of  God  within  you"3  or 
the  kingdom  "not  of  this  world,"  or  the  "holy  city,  new  Jerusalem" 
which  was  already  prepared  and  should  come  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven.4  The  kingdom  of  God  according  to  Christianity  transcends 
life.  It  is  in  a  sphere  beyond  the  carnal  nature  of  man.  This  is  true 
whether  it  is  conceived  as  a  gift  from  God  or  an  attainment  through 
righteous  living;  whether  it  is  regarded  as  an  ideal  social  order  or  as  a 
quality  or  power  within  the  individual.  The  one  attitude  which  seems 
to  have  been  held  in  common  by  all  Christians  is  that  the  carnal  nature 
of  man  is  opposed  to  the  highest  spiritual  life.  Sinfulness  lies  in  bodily 
desires  and  worldly  ambitions,  righteousness  in  spiritual  hope,  and  a 
longing  for  complete  union  with  God. 

But  it  was  the  patriarchal  order  of  marriage  and  ideal  of  a  numerous 
posterity,  even  more  than  the  material  kingdom  which  set  the  Mormons 
in  opposition  to  the  Christian  world.  The  following  from  the  revelation 
on  plural  marriage  suggests  again  the  source  from  which  Mormonism 
received  its  ideals  and  institutions: 

Abraham  received  concubines  and  they  bare  him  children,  and  it  was 
accounted  unto  him  for  righteousness,  because  they  were  given  unto  him,  and 
he  abode  in  my  law;  as  also  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  did  none  other  things  then  that 
which  they  were  commanded.  David  also  received  many  wives  and  concu- 
bines, and  also  Solomon,  and  Moses s 

Although  marriage  was  conceived  by  the  Christians  as  a  sacrament, 
virginity  and  celibacy  were  regarded  as  the  highest  and  purest  life. 
"The  virginity  of  the  holy  mother  of  our  Lord,"  says  Bruce,  gave  to 
celibacy  a  virtuous  beauty  that  it  had  never  before  possessed.  Many  of 
the  Christians  of  Asia  Minor  began,  even  in  the  time  of  the  apostles,  to 

'0611.13:14-16.        ^  Luke  17:21. 

3  Exod.  6:4,  8.  *  Rev.  21:2.  s  Doctrine  and  Covenant,  Section  132  137. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  17 

look  down  upon  marriage;  and  in  some  of  the  writings  of  the  fathers  we 
find  glowing  descriptions  of  the  superior  dignity  and  spiritual  worth  of 
celibacy.1  Tolstoi  regards  marriage  as  the  service  of  self,  and  from  the 
Christian  point  of  view,  even  a  fall,  a  sin.  This  being  the  attitude  of 
the  Christian  religion  toward  even  the  legitimate  monogamous  marriages 
it  is  obvious  that  a  religion  which  advocated  "many  wives  and  con- 
cubines" would  be  condemned  as  sensual  and  directly  opposed  to  Christ's 
spirit  and  true  religion. 

But  the  materialism  in  Mormonism  is  also  in  part  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  it  originated  at  a  time  when  there  was  considerable  interest 
taken  in  communistic  enterprises.  It  was  between  1824  and  1830  that 
Robert  Owen  established  his  communistic  societies  in  different  parts  of 
the  country  and  especially  in  the  West.  Two  such  communities  were 
established  in  Ohio,  one  at  Kendal  and  the  other  at  Yellow  Springs. 
In  fact,  the  nucleus  of  the  first  Mormon  community  was  a  small  com- 
munistic society,  living  at  Kirtland,  Ohio.  The  members  of  this  society, 
before  conversion  to  the  Mormon  faith,  were  members  of  the  Disciples 
of  Christ.     Practically  the  entire  community  joined  the  Mormon  church. 

It  is  also  significant  that  among  those  who  left  the  Disciples'  church 
to  join  the  Mormons  was  one  of  its  preachers,  Sidney  Rigdon.  In  fact, 
according  to  H.  H.  Bancroft,  it  was  out  of  the  "friendship  and  associa- 
tion" between  Alexander  Campbell,  Walter  Scott,  and  Sidney  Rigdon 
that  the  Disciples  or  Campbellites '  church  arose.2  Rigdon  undoubtedly 
became  interested  in  Robert  Owens'  communistic  system  through  the 
famous  debates  carried  on  between  his  friend,  Campbell,  and  Owen  in 
18293  (one  year  before  the  Mormon  church  was  organized).  During 
the  early  years  when  the  ideals  and  institutions  of  Mormonism  were 
taking  shape,  Rigdon  was  intimately  associated  with  Joseph  Smith, 
standing  in  authority  next  to  him  for  a  number  of  years.  It  is  very 
probable,  therefore,  that  Rigdon  carried  over  into  Mormonism  Owen's 
communistic  doctrine  so  generally  discussed  at  that  time. 

1  W.  S.  Bruce,  Social  Aspects  of  Christian  Morality,  pp.  66-67. 

2  H.  H.  Bancroft,  History  of  Utah,  p.  76. 

^  John  H.  Noyes,  History  of  American  Socialism,  p.  87. 


18  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 


CHAPTER  III 

ZION  IN  MISSOURI— GROUP  CONSCIOUSNESS 
AS  THE  CAUSE  OF  CONFLICT 

It  was  in  Jackson  County,  Missouri,  that  the  prophet  had  hoped  to 
fully  realize  his  ideal  social  scheme.  This  was  the  "land  of  Promise" 
and  "blessed  above  all  other  lands."  Even  today  the  Mormons  refer 
to  Jackson  County  as  the  "Center  Stake  of  Zion"  and  look  forward  to 
the  time  when  they  may  reinhabit  this  sacred  place.  Great  care  was 
taken  in  the  selection  of  those  who  were  to  settle  on  the  "Promised 
Land."  Only  the  worthy  were  to  have  inheritance  there;  only  those 
who  had  fully  entered  into  the  Mormon  group  spirit  and  were  willing 
to  consecrate  all  their  property  and  be  content  with  such  an  amount  as 
the  bishop  thought  was  actually  needed.  Every  man  who  would  join 
the  new  community  was  required  to  present  a  certificate  from  the  bishop 
at  Kirtland  as  a  proof  that  he  was  a  "wise  steward"  and  worthy  of  this 
special  blessing. 

In  August,  1 83 1,  the  first  settlers  were  received  by  the  authorities 
who  had  previously  been  appointed  to  buy  the  land  and  to  "  divide  unto 
the  Saints  their  inheritance."  The  laying  of  the  first  log  for  the  building 
of  the  first  house  was  an  occasion  of  celebration  and  ceremony.  It  was 
placed  by  twelve  men  "in  honor  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."  The 
ceremony  of  the  dedication  of  the  land  distributed  among  the  favored 
pioneers  is  significant  as  showing  the  sacredness  with  which  they  regarded 
their  Zion. 

Sidney  Rigdon  stood  before  the  Saints  and  asked:  "Do  you  receive  this 
land  of  your  inheritance  with  thankful  hearts,  from  the  Lord?" 

The  audience  responded :   "We  do." 

"Do  you  pledge  yourselves  to  keep  the  law  of  God  on  this  land,  which  you 
never  kept  in  your  own  land  ?" 

"We  do." 

"Do  you  pledge  yourselves  to  see  that  others  of  your  brethren  who  shall 
come  hither  do  keep  the  laws  of  God  ?" 

"We  do." 

Prayer  was  then  offered  and  the  ceremony  ended  with  the  words:  "I  now 
promise  this  land,  consecrated  and  dedicated  unto  the  Lord  for  a  possession  and  in 
heritance  for  the  Saints  and  for  all  the  faithful  servants  of  the  Lord,  to  the  remot- 
est ages  of  time,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  having  authority  from  him.  Amen."1 

1  Evans,  Hundred  Years  of  Mormonism,  pp.  144-50. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  19 

These  ceremonies  suggest  the  key  of  the  entire  struggle  between  the 
Mormons  and  Gentiles  in  Missouri.  The  causes  of  the  persecutions  are 
not  explained  by  assuming,  as  many  Mormons  do,  that  the  people  of 
Missouri  were  possessed  with  bad  motives  or  evil  spirits.  There  prob- 
ably were  many  immoral  acts  committed  by  individuals  among  both 
Mormons  and  Gentiles  and  there  were  undoubtedly  many  evil-spirited 
men,  even  human  devils  engaged  in  this  warfare,  but  no  more  perhaps 
than  could  be  found  in  any  other  frontier  community  in  the  country. 
The  causes  of  the  antagonism  were  psychological.  There  are  unsocial 
tendencies  in  human  nature  which,  under  certain  conditions,  will  express 
themselves  regardless  of  the  moral  attainments  of  the  people.  All 
peoples  are  at  times  creatures  of  group  consciousness  and  group  morality 
as  has  been  plainly  illustrated  in  the  recent  world-war.  The  soldiers 
of  one  army  did  not  hate  the  soldiers  of  the  opposing  army  for  anything 
that  they  had  done  as  individuals  but  because  they  belonged  to  another 
group.  The  Gentiles  did  not  despise  the  Mormons  because  of  any  acts 
of  individuals  but  because  they  were  Mormons  and  had  set  themselves 
over  against  all  the  old  settlers  of  Missouri.  Three  causes  were  respon- 
sible for  the  group  animosity;  these  were:  (1)  purely  religious  differences, 
(2)  the  claim  which  the  Mormons  made  to  land  of  their  Zion,  and  (3) 
their  attitude  toward  the  negroes. 

That  the  Mormon  persecution  in  Jackson  County  arose  essentially 
out  of  differences  of  religious  belief  is  evident  from  the  content  of  what 
was  termed  the  "Secret  Constitution,"  a  document  by  which  the  non- 
Mormons  of  the  county  bound  themselves  together  for  the  purpose  of 
expelling  the  Mormons  from  the  state.  The  document  contains  the 
following: 

It  is  more  than  two  years  since  the  first  of  these  fanatics,  or  knaves  (for 
one  or  the  other  they  undoubtedly  are)  made  their  appearance  first  amongst  us, 
and  pretended  as  they  did,  and  now  do,  to  hold  personal  communication  and 
converse  face  to  face  with  the  most  High  God;  to  receive  communications 
and  revelations  direct  from  heaven;  to  heal  the  sick  by  the  laying  on  of  hand; 
and,  in  short,  to  perform  all  the  wonder  working  miracles  wrought  by  the 

inspired  Apostles  and  Prophets  of  old They  openly  blaspheme  the 

the  Most  High  God  and  cast  contempt  on  his  holy  religion,  by  pretending  to 
receive  revelations  direct  from  heaven,  by  pretending  to  speak  unknown 
tongues,  by  direct  inspiration  and  by  diverse  pretenses  derogatory  to  God 
and  religion  and  to  utter  subversion  of  human  reason.1 

1  Joseph  Smith,  History  of  the  Church,  I,  378.  The  document  was  copied  from 
the  Evening  and  Morning  Star  of  July,  1833. 


20  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

Thus,  it  was  not  for  crimes  committed  nor  for  immoral  motives  that 
the  residents  of  Jackson  County  expelled  the  Mormons  but  for  pretending 
to  have  heavenly  communication  and  for  possessing  spiritual  gifts.  In 
other  words  the  beliefs  and  extraordinary  pretentions  had  made  the 
Mormons  a  group  different  from  their  own.  Group  consciousness  and 
group  morality  developed.  The  individual  shifted  his  personal  respon- 
sibility upon  the  group  to  which  he  belonged.  He  lost  sight  of  his 
personal  ideals  and  sacrificed  himself  entirely  to  the  group.  In  this 
state  of  mind  the  individual  was  led  to  do  things  that  he  otherwise  would 
not  do.1 

Again  the  Saints  declared  openly  that  God  had  given  them  the  land 
which  both  Mormons  and  Missourians  then  occupied  and  even  in  revela- 
tion were  they  told  that  the  "obedient  shall  eat  the  good  of  the  land  of 
Zion  .  .  .  .  "  and  the  rebellious  "shall  be  plucked  out."2  Although  no 
attempt  had  been  made  to  gain  possession  of  the  land  by  any  means 
other  than  by  purchase  it  was  rumored  that  if  the  land  could  not  be 
bought  some  other  method  might  be  employed.  But  rumors  were  about 
as  effective  as  knowledge  in  developing  emotions  of  antagonism.  The 
Mormons  had  already  been  made  to  regard  themselves  as  God 's  favored 
ones.  It  was  they  who  had  been  blessed  with  a  prophet,  with  revelations, 
with  spiritual  gifts  and  with  a  land  for  their  eternal  inheritance.  The 
Missourians,  on  the  other  hand,  were  conscious  of  belonging  to  a  righteous 
band  whose  task  it  was  to  put  an  end  to  the  Mormon  blasphemy  and 
protect  their  land  from  Mormon  invasion.  Both  groups  felt  that  they 
were  fighting  for  Christ  and  pure  religion. 

This  group  prejudice  was  further  intensified  by  the  fact  that  the 
Mormons  came  from  the  northern  and  New  England  states  while  the 
old  settlers  of  Jackson  County  came  from  the  southern  states.  Con- 
sequently the  two  groups  differed  in  attitude  toward  slavery.  The 
Mormons  were  charged  with  sowing  dissension  and  raising  sedition  among 
the  slaves  and  inviting  free  people  of  color  to  settle  in  Jackson  County. 
The  Mormons  denied  these  charges  and  declared  in  their  official  paper, 
the  Evening  and  Morning  Star,*  that  the  church  had  taken  no  definite 
stand  on  the  subject  of  slavery  and  that  "wisdom  would  dictate  great 
care  among  the  branches  of  the  church  of  Christ  on  this  subject.  So 
long  as  we  have  no  special  rules  in  the  Church,  as  to  people  of  color,  let 
prudence  guide,  and  while  they  as  well  as  we,  are  in  the  hands  of  a  merci- 

1  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  64:   27-30. 

2  Ibid.,  35-36. 

*  Evening  and  Morning  Star  Extra,  July  16,  1833. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  21 

ful  God,  we  say:  shun  every  appearance  of  evil."  This  was  interpreted 
to  mean  that  negroes  and  mulattoes  were  being  invited  to  become 
Mormons  and  settle  in  the  county.  Such  misinterpretation  illustrates 
how  easy  it  is  to  find  cause  for  complaint  when  there  is  really,  as  in  this 
case,  a  long  established  prejudice.  It  was  not  this  article  nor  any  par- 
ticular act  of  the  Mormons  or  the  Gentiles  that  caused  the  enmity.  This 
was  only  an  occasion  for  the  expression  of  prejudices  already  existent. 

A  mere  enumeration  of  acts  of  misbehavior  on  the  part  of  either 
group  will  not  explain  the  cause  of  the  struggle.  These  events  are  only 
outward  manifestations  of  forces  more  fundamental.  The  causes  are 
more  deeply  rooted.  The  struggle  was  not  one  of  individuals  against 
individuals  but  rather  one  of  group  against  group. 

This  spirit  of  enmity  grew  until  the  winter  of  1833,  when  it  expressed 
itself  in  open  violences.  The  leaders  of  the  church  were  tarred  and 
feathered,  property  was  destroyed,  and  the  entire  Mormon  population, 
which  had  now  reached  twelve  thousand,  was  driven  into  the  wilderness. 
Most  of  the  exiles  moved  north  into  Clay  County.  Having  been  obliged 
to  leave  most  of  their  goods  and  chattels  behind,  they  were  poorly  pre- 
pared to  withstand  the  winter  cold  that  was  then  upon  them. 

The  people  of  Clay  County,  however,  were  kindly  disposed  toward 
the  Mormons,  permitting  them  to  occupy  vacant  cabins,  employing  some 
of  the  men  on  the  farms,  some  of  the  women  as  domestic  servants,  and 
others  as  school  teachers.  A  few  families  were  able  to  purchase  homes 
but  the  majority  either  rented  land  or  were  hired  to  the  citizens  of  the 
county.  But  the  sympathetic  attitude  which  the  citizens  of  Clay 
County  at  first  manifested  toward  the  Mormons  was  short-lived.  The 
Gentiles  here  had  no  more  in  common  with  the  Mormons  than  did  the 
Gentiles  of  Jackson  County  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  inhabitants 
of  Clay  County  learned  to  regard  the  Mormons  as  a  distinct  and  peculiar 
people.  In  less  than  three  years  they  began  to  take  actions  to  rid 
themselves  of  their  new  neighbors.  On  June  29,  1836,  the  citizens 
assembled  in  the  courthouse  to  consider  possible  means  for  inducing  the 
Mormons  to  leave  their  country.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  here, 
as  in  Jackson  County,  it  was  not  overt  acts  or  series  of  crimes  which 
caused  the  citizens  to  feel  uncomfortable  in  the  presence  of  the  Mormons 
but  rather  an  indefinable  something  that  made  the  Mormon  group  dif- 
ferent from  their  own.  An  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  citizens  illus- 
trates the  situation: 

They  are  Eastern  men,  whose  manners,  habits,  customs,  and  even  dialect, 
are   essentially   different   from   our   own.     They   are   non-slaveholders,   and 


22  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

opposed  to  slavery,  which  in  this  peculiar  period,  when  abolition  has  reared 
its  deformed  and  haggard  visage  in  our  land,  is  well  calculated  to  excite  deep 
and  abiding  prejudices  in  any  community  where  slavery  is  tolerated  and 
protected. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  they  are  charged,  as  they  have  hitherto  been,  with 
keeping  up  a  constant  communication  with  our  Indian  tribes  on  our  frontiers, 
with  declaring,  even  from  the  pulpit,  that  the  Indians  are  a  part  of  God's 
chosen  people  and  are  destined  by  heaven  to  inherit  this  land,  in  common  with 
themselves.  We  do  not  vouch  for  the  correctness  of  these  statements;  but 
whether  they  are  true  or  false,  their  effect  has  been  the  same  in  exciting  our 
community.1 

Thus  the  Saints  were  requested  to  leave  Clay  County,  not  because 
of  misconduct  either  legally  or  morally,  but  because  their  religious  tenets, 
their  habits,  customs,  dialect,  etc.,  were  different  from  those  of  the 
other  inhabitants.  They  were  asked  to  leave  because  they  were  non- 
slaveholders  and  because  they  declared  the  Indians  to  be  their  breth- 
ren. What  could  more  clearly  express  group  psychology  and  even  group 
morality  than  these  accusations?  Human  society  is  so  constituted 
that  unless  individuals  of  the  different  groups  can  find  something  in 
common  they  will  not  associate.  The  Mormons  refused  to  have  any- 
thing in  common  with  their  Gentile  neighbors  and  consequently  the  only 
thing  that  would  insure  peace  was  isolation.  This  fact  was  now  beginning 
to  be  recognized  by  both  Mormons  and  Gentiles. 

To  avoid  serious  persecution  such  as  they  suffered  in  Jackson  County 
the  Saints  moved  at  once  into  the  territory  attached  to  Ray  County. 
They  petitioned  the  state  for  the  privilege  of  organizing  into  a  county. 
Their  petition  was  granted  and  the  Mormons  thus  became  the  founders 
of  Caldwell  County.  Here  the  Saints  grew  rapidly  in  wealth  and  popu- 
lation. By  the  autumn  of  1838  they  had  opened  in  Caldwell  and  adjoin- 
ing counties  two  thousand  farms  and  had  erected  many  houses,  hotels, 
stores,  and  shops  of  all  kinds. 

The  Saints  were  beginning  to  feel  that  they  had  now  come  to  a  reali- 
zation of  their  hopes.  God  had  in  a  sort  of  indirect  way  led  them  to  a 
place  where  they  were  to  enjoy  peace  and  prosperity.2  This  seemed  to 
give  them  a  feeling  of  strength  and  courage  and,  in  the  case  of  some 
individuals,  resulted  in  a  boldness  which  had  serious  consequences.  For 
example,  Sidney  Rigdon  unwisely  gave  expression  to  his  feelings  in  a 
Fourth  of  July  speech  in  1838.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  his 
oration: 

1  Joseph  Smith,  op.  tit.,  I,  450. 

2H.  H.  Bancroft,  Bancroft's  Works,  XXVI,  119. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  23 

We  take  God  to  witness  and  the  holy  angels  to  witness  this  day  that  we 
warn  all  men,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  come  on  us  no  more  forever. 
The  man  or  set  of  men  who  attempt  it,  do  it  at  the  expense  of  their  lives;  and 
that  mob  that  comes  on  us  to  disturb  us,  there  shall  be  between  us  and  them  a 
war  of  extermination,  for  we  will  follow  them  till  the  last  drop  of  blood  is 
spilled,  or  else  they  will  have  to  exterminate  us  for  we  will  carry  the  war  to  their 
own  houses,  and  their  own  families,  and  one  party  or  the  other  shall  be  utterly 
destroyed.1 

But  Rigdon's  pride  was  soon  humbled  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
Saints  was  soon  to  be  replaced  by  poverty.  The  two  years  of  peace  was 
but  a  calm  before  the  storm.  A  disturbance  in  Davis  County  in  August 
of  that  year  marks  the  beginning  of  the  trouble  which  finally  resulted 
in  the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons  from  the  state.  Attempts  were  made 
to  prevent  certain  Mormons  from  voting.  The  latter  insisted  upon 
their  rights  as  American  citizens  and  cast  their  votes,  but  not  until  after 
a  skirmish  in  which  several  on  both  sides  were  wounded.  News  of  this 
circumstance  spread  like  wildfire  through  Davis  and  Caldwell  counties. 
A  general  uprising  followed.  The  leading  citizens  tried  to  quiet  matters 
but  to  no  avail.  Conditions  went  from  bad  to  worse.  Finally  the 
affairs  became  so  alarming  that  Major-General  Atchison  called  out  the 
militia  of  Ray  and  Clay  counties  under  the  command  of  Generals  Doni- 
phan and  Parks.  General  Parks  with  a  small  army  went  to  Davis 
County  and  Doniphan  with  a  small  body  of  men  went  to  Dewit  to  put 
down  a  mob  uprising  at  that  place. 

That  the  Saints  must  again  leave  their  homes  became  evident.  They 
all  gathered  at  Far  West,  the  county  seat  of  Caldwell,  and  from  there 
they  were  compelled  in  midwinter  to  leave  the  state.  Generals  Doniphan 
and  Parks  endeavored  faithfully  to  protect  the  Mormons  from  mob- 
violence,  but  with  little  avail  for  they  were  struggling  against  too  many 
odds.  They  were  outnumbered  by  the  mob  and  their  own  soldiers  were, 
themselves,  prejudiced  against  the  Mormons.  Governor  Boggs  remained 
indifferent  at  first  and  maintained  that  since  the  Mormons  had  brought 
the  trouble  upon  themselves  it  was  left  with  them  to  fight  it  out  with 
the  mob.  He  could  give  them  no  help.  Later,  however,  for  no  good 
reason  yet  known  to  historians,  he  ordered  General  Clark  to  rally  the 
state  militia  and  drive  the  Mormons  from  the  state. 

Attention  should  be  directed  toward  two  significant  results  of  the 
Mormon  residence  in  Missouri.  In  the  first  place  Mormon  group  con- 
sciousness was  taking  definite  form.     The  rapid  building  up  of  a  colony 

1  Ibid.,  p.  120. 


24  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

in  a  county,  and  quick  development  of  prejudice  and  persecution  con- 
vinced the  Mormons  as  well  as  the  non-Mormons  that  the  two  groups 
had  nothing  in  common.  Not  knowing  the  cause  of  the  bitter  hatred 
between  the  groups  and  the  sympathy  which  developed  within  the  groups, 
a  mysticism  was  apparent  in  the  consciousness  of  both.  God  symbolized 
the  spirit  of  love  which  the  members  of  the  same  group  bore  toward  one 
another,  and  the  devil  symbolized  the  spirit  of  hatred  which  existed 
between  the  groups. 

In  the  second  place  the  Mormon  social  ideal  or  Zion  also  received  its 
definite  form.  Jackson  County,  Missouri,  is  to  this  day  regarded  by  the 
Saints  as  sacred  land  on  which  they  are  to  build  their  Zion.  This  con- 
cept has  played  no  small  part  in  Mormon  history  since  the  expulsion  from 
Missouri  and  it  is  sure  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  future. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  25 


CHAPTER  IV 
ZION  IN  ILLINOIS— AN  INDEPENDENT  CITY 

Driven  from  Missouri  the  Saints  found  refuge  in  Illinois.  There 
our  story  repeats  itself.  From  one  community  they  were  expelled  by 
an  armed  force  and  in  another  received  with  open  arms  of  friendship. 
In  one  state  they  were  deprived  of  their  homes  and  property;  in  another 
they  were  given  shelter,  food,  and  clothing.  In  one  state  they  were  con- 
sidered outlaws  and  deprived  of  the  rights  of  citizenship;  in  another 
state  they  were  not  only  given  the  rights  of  citizenship  but  were  permit- 
ted to  establish  an  independent  city  whose  charter  allowed  them  to 
organize  an  army  for  protection.  Why  the  attitude  of  these  two  friendly 
states  should  be  so  different  toward  the  Mormons,  historians  have  thus 
far  failed  to  answer.  It  is  obvious  that,  had  the  Mormons  been  expelled 
from  Missouri  on  account  of  theft,  murder,  or  any  illegal  or  immoral  con- 
duct whatsoever,  knowledge  of  this  would  have  been  had  by  the  people 
east  of  the  Mississippi  and  their  reception  would  have  been  very  different. 

But  the  Mormons  were  expelled  from  Missouri  not  on  account  of 
criminality  but  because  of  peculiarity.  They  were  expelled  for  reasons 
that  could  not  be  easily  communicated.  They  were  driven  out  because 
they  practiced  their  creed,  ''mind  your  own  business."  They  believed 
that  their  business  was  absolutely  distinct  from  that  of  their  gentile 
neighbors.  They  had  their  own  peculiar  religious  interests,  their  own 
economic  order,  and  to  a  certain  extent  their  own  political  interest  and 
control.  They  desired  no  interest  or  co-operative  intercourse  with 
people  outside  of  their  own  group.  Such  an  attitude  will  be  treated 
with  indifference  for  a  short  time,  but  an  entire  absence  of  common 
interests  leads  inevitably  to  a  severance  of  friendly  relations.  This  was 
repeatedly  illustrated  in  Missouri  and  later  in  Illinois.  Two  peoples 
cannot  live  together  unless  there  is  some  common  ground,  some  natural 
interest  or  condition  for  co-operation.  It  is  a  vital  principle  in  human 
society  that  "he  who  is  not  for  us  is  against  us."  Human  nature  cannot 
tolerate  indifference.  Only  by  association  could  the  people  of  Illinois 
be  made  to  understand  that  the  Mormon  people  were  not  to  become  one 
with  them. 

Quincy,  Illinois,  became  the  resting-place  for  the  greater  number  of 
the  Saints  until  a  permanent  place  was  determined  upon.     But  the 


26  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

prophet  was  not  long  in  selecting  another  Zion.  Commerce,  Hancock 
County,  was  soon  selected  as  the  central  spot  for  the  new  community. 
Though  at  that  time  swampy  and  unhealthful  it  was  conveniently 
located  as  it  was  almost  encircled  by  the  Mississippi.  It  was  drained 
of  its  impure  water,  renamed,  and  became  in  a  short  time  the  beautiful 
city  of  Nauvoo.  Besides  the  land  in  Commerce,  much  land  in  Iowa  was 
purchased  by  the  characteristic  Mormon  method,  first  by  the  church, 
being  later  sold  or  given  to  its  members  according  to  their  need  and 
financial  ability. 

At  first  no  attempt  was  made  by  the  prophet  to  gather  his  people 
to  Nauvoo.  They  were  permitted  to  locate  at  will  in  different  parts  of 
Illinois  and  Iowa.  But  in  the  winter  of  1840-41  the  legislature  of  the 
state  granted  to  the  Mormons  a  very  liberal  charter.  Under  it  they  were 
given  almost  complete  political  and  judicial  control  of  affairs  within  the 
city  of  Nauvoo.  In  May  following,  all  the  Saints  living  outside  of  Nauvoo 
were  called  in  to  help  build  up  the  city  and  its  temple.  The  call  came 
as  a  revelation. 

And  again,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  let  all  my  Saints  come  from  afar, 
And  send  ye  swift  messengers,  yea,  chosen  messengers,  and  say  unto  them: 
come  ye,  with  all  your  gold  and  your  silver,  and  your  precious  stones,  and  with 
all  your  antiquities;  and  with  all  who  have  knowledge  of  antiquities,  that  will 
come,  may  come,  and  bring  the  box  tree,  and  the  fir  tree,  and  the  pine  tree, 
together  with  all  the  precious  trees  of  the  earth;  and  build  a  house  to  my  name, 
for  the  Most  High  to  dwell  therein.1 

To  the  Saints  this  was  indeed  a  divine  call.  They  were  to  build  a  new 
Jerusalem  and  a  temple  like  the  Temple  of  Solomon  of  "fir  trees"  of 
"precious  stones"  and  "antiquities."2  They  responded  promptly  to  the 
call.  Within  a  few  months  the  city  grew  from  a  population  of  five 
thousand  to  twenty  thousand.  It  soon  became  the  largest  city  in  Illinois. 
Hotels  and  workshops  and  business  houses  and  enterprises  of  all  sorts 
sprang  into  existence  as  it  were  in  a  day.  There  were  many  industrial 
organizations,  not  for  individual  gain,  but  for  the  building  up  of  the 
city.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  prophet  to  make  Nauvoo  self-support- 
ing and  entirely  independent  of  outside  business  and  industrial  life.  A 
city  government  was  established  and  also  a  military  organization.  The 
prophet  became  mayor  of  the  city  and  also  lieutenant-general  of  the 
Nauvoo  Legion. 

But  the  effect  of  this  wonderful  group  solidarity  was  not  long  to  be 
expressed  in  terms  of  prosperity  and  city  building.    The  very  factors 

1  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  124 :  25-26.        a  I  Kings  5:6-8;  6:  21. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  27 

which  created  strong  solidarity  within  also  developed  a  strong  opposing 
group  without.  Here  as  in  Missouri  when  the  non-Mormons  found  that 
they  were  excluded  from  all  the  Mormon  enterprises  they  became  sus- 
picious. There  was  something  wrong  with  a  people  who  were  always 
all  for  or  all  against  a  political  measure.  Little  by  little  they  began  to 
feel  that  since  the  Mormons'  religious,  economic,  and  political  interests 
were  so  exlusively  Mormon  interests  that  they  must  be  opposed  to  their 
own.  Joseph  Smith,  whom  the  Saints  regarded  with  such  reverence, 
now  received  the  attention  also  of  the  Gentiles;  by  them  he  was  regarded 
not  with  reverence  but  with  contempt  and  hatred.  In  fact  everything 
that  was  considered  of  vital  concern  by  the  Mormons  became  now  of 
vital  concern  to  the  gentile  group.  But  what  was  an  object  of  love  to 
one  group  was  an  object  of  hate  to  the  other  and  what  was  regarded  with 
reverence  by  the  one  was  regarded  with  contempt  by  the  other. 

The  attention  of  both  Mormons  and  Gentiles  in  Illinois  now  became 
centered  in  the  prophet  and  never  before  had  the  latter  been  more  active 
than  during  the  last  two  or  three  years  of  his  life.  On  one  day  he  would 
be  presenting  to  his  people  a  new  revelation;  the  next  day  he  would 
appear  before  them  as  head  of  the  Nauvoo  Legion.  He  might  one  day 
be  under  arrest  and  on  trial  before  a  court  in  Illinois;  and  the  next  day 
announce  himself  a  candidate  for  president  of  the  United  States.  The 
prophet  recognized  his  activity  and  regarded  it  as  a  source  of  strength. 
He  says:  "Excitement  has  almost  become  the  essence  of  my  life,  when  it 
dies  away  I  feel  almost  lost.  When  a  man  is  reined  up  continually  he 
becomes  strong  and  gains  knowledge  and  power;  but  when  he  relaxes  for 
a  season  he  loses  much  of  his  power."1 

The  prophet  was  arrested  a  great  many  times  and  each  occasion 
tended  to  magnify  his  greatness  in  the  minds  of  his  people.  Wilford 
Woodruff  describes  a  reception  the  people  gave  their  leader  upon  his 
return  after  a  hearing  before  a  court:  "Five  days  later  ....  the 
citizens  of  Nauvoo  went  out  in  great  numbers  on  horseback  and  in  car- 
riages to  meet  the  prophet.  The  whole  scene  was  a  demonstration  of 
joy.  He  was  escorted  home  by  a  band  of  music  and  by  the  great  multi- 
tude that  had  gone  out  to  meet  him."2 

Inspired  by  the  presence  of  thousands  of  his  people  and  by  the 
glorious  reception  which  they  extended  him,  he  gave  direct  expression 

1  Statement  by  Wilford  Woodruff,  quoted  by  Cowley  in  Life  of  Wilford  Wood- 
ruff, p.  176. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  182. 


28  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

to  his  emotions.  The  following  selections  from  his  address  reveal  his 
temperament  and  also  indicate  his  relation  to  the  people: 

"I  want  you  to  learn,  O  Israel!  what  is  for  the  happiness  and  peace  of 
this  city  and  its  people.  Our  enemies  are  determined  to  oppress  us  and  deprive 
us  of  our  rights  and  privileges  as  they  have  done  in  the  past 

"There  is  a  time,  however,  when  forbearance  ceases  and  when  suffering 
longer  without  resistance  is  a  sin.  I  shall  not  bear  it  any  longer,  I  will  spill  the 
last  drop  of  blood  I  have  rather  than  endure  it;  and  all  who  feel  that  they  will 
not  bear  it  any  longer  say,  'Aye' 

"However,  I  shall  restrain  you  no  longer,  from  this  time  forth.  If  occasion 
require  I  will  lead  you  to  battle,  if  you  are  not  afraid  to  die  and  to  spill  your 
blood  in  your  own  defense  you  will  not  offend  me.  Be  not  the  aggressor. 
Bear  until  they  strike  you  on  one  cheek  and  then  offer  the  other.  They  will  be 
sure  to  strike  that  also;  then  defend  yourself  and  God  will  bear  you  off  vic- 
torious. If  I  am  under  the  necessity  of  giving  up  our  chartered  rights,  privi- 
leges, and  freedom  for  which  our  fathers  fought  and  bled,  and  which  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  as  well  as  this  state  grants  to  us,  I  will  do  it  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet  and  sword 

"It  did  my  soul  good  to  witness  the  manifestation  of  your  feelings  and 
love  toward  me.  I  thank  God  I  have  the  honor  to  lead  so  virtuous  and  honest 
a  people,  to  be  your  law -giver  as  Moses  was  to  the  children  of  Israel.  Hosanna ! 
Hosanna!  Hosanna!  to  the  most  high  God!  I  commend  you  to  His  grace 
and  may  the  blessings  of  Heaven  rest  upon  you,  I  ask  it  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ.     Amen."1 

Joseph  Smith  possessed  the  essential  traits  of  a  prophet.  He  was 
highly  sensitive  to  the  impulses  of  his  people.  This  placed  him  in  com- 
plete harmony  with  them.  He  embodied  their  spirit  and  in  this  sense 
he  was  not  only  a  prophet  for  them  but  was  made  a  prophet  by  them. 
He  received  his  inspiration  from  the  group  and  in  return  reflected  its 
life  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  it  restimulation.  The  group  felt  the  emo- 
tions but  needed  a  prophet  to  make  them  more  objective  or  give  more 
concrete  expression  to  them.  Such  emotional  expressions  as  these: 
"I  will  spill  the  last  drop  of  blood  I  have  rather  than  endure  it,"  "I  will 
lead  you  to  battle,"  "Defend  yourself  and  God  will  bear  you  off  victor- 
ious," are  in  a  very  real  sense  group  expressions.  It  was  the  group 
speaking  through  its  prophet.  When  the  emotions  were  expressed  in 
this  form  they  became  stimuli  for  even  more  powerful  emotional 
responses.  It  is  true  that  the  whole  life  of  the  people  was  centered  in 
their  prophet,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  the  spirit  and  power  of  the 
prophet  came  from  the  group. 

1  Statement  by  Wilford  Woodruff,  quoted  by  Cowley  in  Life  of  Wilford  Wood- 
ruff, pp.  184-86. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  29 

The  one  event  which  has  made  the  name  of  Joseph  Smith  immor- 
tal in  the  Mormon  community  is  his  martyrdom  in  Carthage  jail.  He 
was  murdered  while  in  the  zenith  of  his  life,  just  at  the  time  when  the 
attention  of  his  entire  people  as  well  as  his  enemy  was  focused  upon  him. 
The  time  of  his  death  and  the  manner  of  his  death  has  established  a 
sentiment  in  the  Mormon  people  toward  him  and  his  enemies  that  has 
remained  even  to  the  present  time  and  will  perhaps  always  remain  as  an 
element  in  the  consciousness  of  the  Mormon  people.  The  following 
hymn  illustrates  the  nature  of  this  sentiment  and  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  transmitted: 

Praise  to  the  Man  who  communed  with  Jehovah ! 

Jesus  anointed  "that  Prophet  and  Seer" 

Blessed  to  open  the  last  dispensation; 

Kings  shall  extol  him  and  nations  revere. 
Hail  to  the  Prophet,  ascended  to  heaven! 

Traitors  and  tyrants  now  fight  him  in  vain; 

Mingling  with  God,  he  can  plan  for  his  brethren; 

Death  cannot  conquer  the  hero  again. 

Praise  to  his  memory,  he  died  as  a  martyr, 

Honored  and  blest  be  his  ever  great  name! 

Long  shall  his  blood  which  was  shed  by  assassins 

Stain  Illinois  while  the  earth  lauds  his  fame. 
Great  is  his  glory  and  endless  his  priesthood, 

Ever  and  ever  the  keys  he  will  hold; 

Faithful  and  true  he  will  enter  his  kingdom, 

Crowned  in  the  midst  of  the  prophets  of  old. 
Sacrifice  brings  forth  the  blessings  of  heaven ; 

Earth  must  atone  for  the  blood  of  that  man; 

Wake  up  the  world  for  the  conflict  of  justice; 

Millions  shall  know  "brother  Joseph"  again.1 

In  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Saints  from 
Nauvoo  the  first  period  in  Mormon  history  has  its  dramatic  ending.  It 
is  impossible  to  find  a  situation  which  illustrates  so  well  the  effect  of 
strong  group  sentiments.  Five  times  did  the  Mormons  establish  settle- 
ments and  five  times  were  they  driven  from  their  homes  by  mobs.  In 
each  place  they  were  kindly  received  at  first,  treated  as  friends,  but 
became  after  a  short  time  objects  of  extreme  hatred  and  for  no  other 
cause  than  that  they  were  a  peculiar  people.  We  may  thus  generalize 
our  conclusions  of  the  first  great  maladjustment  in  Mormon  history. 
(1)  That  the  extraordinary  pretentions  of  the  Mormons  which  made 

1  Selected  from  the  Songs  of  Zion. 


30  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

them  unpopular  among  the  citizens  of  Missouri  and  Illinois  was  the  first 
cause  of  the  conflict.  (2)  That  the  conflict  itself  created  solidarity 
within  the  group  and  prejudice  between  groups.  (3)  That  the  senti- 
ments thus  nourished  by  constant  group  interaction  grew  in  intensity 
and  resulted  finally  in  mob  uprising. 

Although  the  great  conflict  with  the  Gentiles  practically  ended 
with  the  expulsion  from  Nauvoo,  its  psychological  effect  still  remains  and 
functions  vitally  in  the  life  of  the  people.  The  struggle  was  too  intense 
and  the  emotional  excitement  too  great  to  be  quickly  eliminated  from 
their  consciousness.  There  is  a  tendency  to  rehearse  this  great  conflict 
in  their  religious  services.  The  expulsions  from  Missouri  and  from 
Illinois  are  popular  themes  for  public  addresses.  In  oratorical  contests 
many  young  Mormons  have  won  prizes  with  this  theme.  But  perhaps 
the  most  common  appearance  of  the  mental  effect  of  the  great  con- 
flict is  in  the  hymns  of  the  church.  The  following  expressions  taken  from 
some  of  the  hymns  illustrate  how  dominant  is  this  element  of  conflict 
in  the  consciousness  of  the  people.  "All  thy  foes  shall  flee  before  thee"; 
"Enemies  no  more  shall  trouble;  all  thy  wrongs  shall  be  redressed"; 
"All  thy  conflicts,  all  thy  conflicts  end  in  an  eternal  rest";  "All  her  foes 
shall  be  confounded,  though  the  world  in  arms  combine";  "While  the 
enemy  assaulteth  shall  we  shrink  or  shun  the  fight " ;  "  On  the  neck  of  thy 
foes  thou  shalt  tread."1  The  one  element  common  to  all  these  expres- 
sions is  that  of  conflict  with  an  enemy.  This  is  one  of  the  most  effective 
means  of  transmitting  the  old  group  sentiments  from  one  generation  to 
another. 

But  in  addition  to  the  effect  on  the  sentiments,  the  psychology  of 
group  conflict  is  manifest  in  a  more  objective  way.  It  is  in  the  peculiar 
character  of  some  of  the  religious  forms.  They  are  unlike  that  of  the 
sectarian  world.  The  Mormons  had  no  inclination  to  compromise  with 
the  outside  world.  This  tendency  has  grown  out  of  the  old  classification, 
the  Mormons  and  Gentiles,  the  Children  of  God  and  the  Children  of  the 
Devil,  their  brethren  and  their  enemies.  Nothing  good  can  come  from 
an  evil  source,  consequently  whatever  originated  in  Mormonism  was  of 
God  and  whatever  came  from  Babylon  was  of  the  Devil.  It  was  the 
peculiarity  of  Mormonism  which  caused  the  conflict.  And  it  was  the 
conflict  which  caused  these  peculiarities  to  continue.  There  would  have 
been  no  strife  with  the  gentile  world  had  it  not  been  for  Mormon  peculi- 
arities and  there  would  have  been  no  Mormonism  as  we  have  it  today 
without  this  conflict.     Thus  we  have  in  Mormonism  peculiar  religious 

1  Selected  from  the  Songs  ofZion. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  31 

ceremonies,  a  peculiar  marriage  institution,  a  distinct  economic  order, 
and  a  unique  priesthood  with  its  own  institution  for  social  control. 

But  while  we  are  emphasizing  the  permanent  effect  of  the  great  con- 
flict in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  it  is  not  intended  to  minimize  the  significance 
of  the  second  great  struggle.  The  struggle  for  existence  in  the  Rocky- 
Mountain  country  had  equally  important  psychological  and  social  results. 
We  shall  observe  how  the  new  problems  reshaped,  changed,  and  even 
eliminated  some  of  the  older  institutions.  We  shall  also  observe  how 
the  group  sentiments  of  the  first  conflict  were  strengthened  and  how 
other  sentiments  developed  out  of  the  new  life. 


PART  II 
MALADJUSTMENT  BETWEEN  MORMONS  AND  NATURE 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  MORMON  MIGRATION— FROM  A  CONFLICT  WITH  MEN  TO 
A  STRUGGLE  WITH  NATURE 

With  the  expulsion  from  Illinois  began  the  great  Rocky  Mountain 
colonization  for  which  the  Mormons  are  so  well  known.  This  is  the 
beginning  of  a  new  era  in  Mormon  history  and  marks  as  well  a  forward 
step  in  American  Western  movement.  Although  during  the  first  fifteen 
years  of  their  history  the  Mormons  were  engaged  in  establishing  colonies 
and  building  cities — an  aim  which  has  characterized  their  history 
throughout — the  great  obstacles  were  not  presented  by  nature  but  by 
their  human  enemies;  the  maladjustment  was  with  men.  The  struggle 
of  the  second  period  was  with  nature,  the  economic  condition  of  an  iso- 
lated mountainous  and  arid  region,  inhabited  by  Indian  tribes.  It  was 
the  successful  manner  in  which  the  Mormons  met  and  overcame  their 
obstacles  that  entitles  them  to  a  place  in  the  history  of  the  advancement 
of  industrial  America. 

"To  your  tents,  Oh  Israel! "  was  the  command  of  the  new  leader  who 
was  given  the  task  of  directing  the  Mormons  in  this  pioneering  enter- 
prise. Brigham  Young  became  the  prophet  to  the  Mormons  after  the 
death  of  Joseph  Smith.  And  it  was  well  that  a  change  of  leadership 
should  come  at  this  time.  The  situation  demanded  it.  Joseph  Smith 
was  a  spiritual-minded  idealist;  he  seemed  to  serve  the  purpose  of  his 
group  when  the  conflict  was  social,  religious,  and  spiritual.  Brigham 
Young  was  a  materialist,  very  practical-minded  and  well  prepared  to 
direct  the  Mormons  in  their  struggle  with  material  problems.  It  seems 
proper  that  Joseph  Smith  should  be  the  founder  of  a  religion  and  that 
Brigham  Young  should  be  the  founder  of  a  state. 

Professor  Ames  in  his  book,  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experience, 
explains  the  conditions  out  of  which  social  leaders  develop : 

The  underlying  condition  is  ...  .  that  of  a  vital,  urgent  life  for  the 
whole  social  group.  Great  men  have  arisen  in  crises  when  the  nation  or  race 
felt  the  stress  of  unusual  tension  and  opportunity.  At  such  times  the  currents 
of  thought  and  feeling  are  deepened  and  quickened.  Not  only  are  the  unusual 
men  demanded  by  the  situation,  but  they  are  created  by  it  through  the  stress 
and  stimulation  and  experience  which  it  furnishes.1 

1  P.  344- 

35 


36  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

We  can  hardly  find  a  more  vivid  example  of  the  principle  that  a  new- 
problem  forces  readjustment  than  is  found  in  this  transition  period  of 
Mormon  history.  The  new  need  created  a  new  type  of  leadership.  The 
spiritually  minded,  idealistic  leadership  gave  way  to  common  sense  and 
practical  authority.  The  emotional,  inspirational,  and  impulsive  control 
gave  way  to  deliberative  foresight  and  direction.  The  loose  and  incom- 
plete organization  was  transformed  into  a  more  complete,  firm,  and 
definite  system  based  upon  immediate  practical  demands. 

Brigham  Young  was  once  asked  if  he  regarded  himself  a  prophet  and 
replied:  " I  am  of  profit  to  my  people."  And  so  he  was.  As  a  leader  he 
met  the  problems  confronting  his  people  in  such  a  masterly  way  that  he 
soon  seemed  to  them  a  more  than  ordinary  man.  He  was  at  first  regarded 
as  one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  the  president  of  the  quorum  of  the  apostles. 
But  as  his  importance  to  the  community  became  recognized  and  as  the 
people  tended  more  and  more  to  look  to  him  for  leadership,  he  became 
clothed  with  a  sort  of  spiritual  sacredness  that  seemed  to  lift  him  into  a 
sphere  by  himself.     He  became  their  "Prophet,  Seer,  and  Revelator." 

But  what  were  the  problems  that  demanded  this  new  type  of  leader- 
ship ?  They  were  many  and  varied  in  character,  but  they  may  be  sum- 
marized under  three  general  economic  problems:  immigration,  coloniza- 
tion, and  economic  independence.  More  specifically:  (i)  How  were  the 
thousands  of  Mormons  to  be  transported  from  Illinois  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  ?  (2)  How  were  they  to  survive  when  they  got  there  ?  (3) 
In  their  isolation  how  could  they  maintain  permanently,  as  a  community, 
an  independent  industrial  and  commercial  life  ?  The  problems  were  not 
all  grasped  at  once  by  the  people.  Even  Brigham  Young  was  unable  to 
define  all  of  them  at  the  beginning.  The  problems  became  organized 
in  the  minds  of  the  pioneers  while  they  were  struggling  with  them.  We 
shall  treat  the  problems  in  the  order  in  which  we  have  stated  them  for 
that,  in  general,  is  the  order  in  which  they  presented  themselves.  But 
it  should  be  observed  that  they  are  not  independent  of  each  other.  They 
are  in  reality  three  aspects  of  the  one  big  problem,  the  establishment  of  a 
great  and  independent  Zion  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  country. 

It  was  on  February  4  when  the  exodus  from  Illinois  actually  began, 
although  weeks  before  this  date  the  people  had  been  engaged  in  making 
preparation  for  their  journey.  Land  and  houses  were  exchanged  for 
cattle,  horses,  mules,  wagons,  tents,  farm  tools,  seeds  of  all  kinds,  and 
minor  traveling  equipment. 

The  organization  for  the  great  journey  was  very  efficient.  And  it 
must  necessarily  have  been  so  in  order  to  move  such  a  great  body  of 
people  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  miles  over  trackless  prairies,  sandy 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  37 

deserts,  and  rocky  mountains.  Brigham  Young  instructed  his  people 
thus:  "We  will  have  no  law  we  cannot  keep,  but  we  will  have  order  in 
the  camp.  If  any  want  to  live  in  peace  when  we  have  left  this  place, 
they  must  toe  the  mark."1  Not  all  the  rules  that  governed  the  pioneers 
were  given  at  any  one  time  but  were  made  as  the  occasion  demanded  by 
Brigham  Young  and  the  twelve  apostles  who  represented  the  church  and 
whose  word  was  law. 

The  following  quotation  from  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  historian 's 
office  of  the  Mormon  Church  in  1869,  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the 
camp  organizations  and  shows  the  emphasis  placed  on  community 
interest  even  at  the  expense  of  the  individual. 

The  companies  for  the  plains  were  organized  at  the  Elk  Horn  river,  about 
18  miles  west  of  Winter  Quarters,  now  Florence,  Nebraska,  into  companies  of 
hundreds,  fifties,  and  tens;  each  fifty  was  provided  with  a  blacksmith  and 
wagon  maker  with  tools  for  repairing  wagons  and  shoeing  animals.  Three 
hundred  pounds  of  breadstuff  were  required  for  each  person  emigrating,  and  a 
good  gun  with  100  rounds  of  ammunition  for  each  able-bodied  man.  Many 
cows  were  worked  in  the  yoke.  Each  family  was  also  required  to  take  a  due 
proportion  of  seed  grain  and  agricultural  implements.  Every  wagon,  load, 
and  team  was  inspected  by  a  committee,  and  none  were  allowed  to  start  on  the 
plains  without  the  required  outfit.  A  strict  guard  was  kept  over  the  cattle 
by  night  and  day,  also  in  the  camps,  which  were  formed  in  an  oval  shape,  the 
inside  making  a  corral  for  the  stock.  Pigs  and  poultry  were  carried  in  coops 
attached  to  the  wagons. 

No  person  was  allowed  by  the  rules  to  wander  about,  not  even  to  hunt 
game,  except  under  special  directions,  and  by  these  precautions,  no  person  was 
lost  and  but  few  accidents  occurred,  and  the  loss  of  animals  was  small,  although 
we  traveled  ten  hundred  and  thirty-four  miles,  from  the  Missouri  river  to 
Salt  Lake  City,  through  an  uninhabited  and  desert  region.  Saturday  afternoon 
was  usually  occupied  in  washing,  baking,  repairing  wagons,  and  shoeing  animals, 
and  Sunday  was  a  day  of  rest  and  worship.  Morning  and  evening  prayers 
and  songs  of  praise  were  never  omitted  in  the  camps,  and  occasionally  a  dance 
was  enjoyed,  the  companies  generally  being  favored  with  musical  talent. 

Thus  the  refining  influences  of  society  and  civilization  were  continually 
felt  and  kept  in  view,  and  the  moral  status  of  the  camps  preserved  inviolate 
through  all  the  fatigues,  hardships,  exposures,  and  vexatious  annoyances  of 
the  entire  journey.2 

This  may  appear  to  be  a  very  arbitrary  and  extremely  rigid  system, 
but  when  we  realize  the  seriousness  of  the  whole  situation  it  should  not 
seem  unnecessary.  These  people  were  traveling  in  constant  danger  of 
attack  from  unfriendly  Indians  and  perhaps  from  some  few  dissatisfied 

1  Quoted  in  Tullidge's  Quarterly  Magazine,  I,  8.         2  Answers  to  Questions,  p.  17. 


38  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

members  of  their  own  group.  They  formed  a  very  large  body  and  were 
in  danger  of  starvation  as  well  as  contagious  diseases.  A  routine 
method  and  a  most  rigid  discipline  were  therefore  desirable  precautions 
against  serious  disturbances. 

A  most  admirable  plan,  looking  to  the  needs  of  the  Saints  who  were  to 
follow  the  pioneers,  was  the  establishment  of  farming  stations  along  the 
line.  Most  of  these  were  located  east  of  the  Missouri  River  where  the 
rainfall  was  sufficient  to  assure  a  crop.  One  was  established  at  Garden 
Grove,  in  Iowa,  one-hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Nauvoo,  another  on  a 
branch  of  the  Grand  River,  and  the  largest  one  at  Council  Bluffs,  on  the 
Missouri  River.  These  places  were  selected  by  men  sent  out  in  advance 
of  the  pioneer  wagons.  As  soon  as  the  main  body  arrived  at  these  rest- 
ing-places all  the  men  were  promptly  organized  and  put  to  work,  some 
cutting  logs,  splitting  rails,  others  building  houses  and  fences,  and  still 
others  were  engaged  in  plowing  and  planting.  Thus  industrious  settle- 
ments sprang  up  in  the  wilderness  as  it  were  by  magic.  In  no  time  of 
their  experience  have  they  found  their  communistic  scheme  quite  so 
practical  as  in  the  conducting  of  these  farming  stations.  Thus  the 
pioneers  who  reached  these  stations  in  the  spring  would  plant  the  seeds 
and  the  autumn  travelers  would  reap  the  harvest. 

On  July  24,  1847,  the  first  pioneers  entered  Salt  Lake  Valley.  The 
problems  of  the  plains  had  been  successfully  met.  And  the  Mormons 
had  found  a  land  of  peace  if  nothing  else  could  be  said  in  its  favor.  They 
were  happy  in  the  victory  attained  but  fully  realized  that  a  perplexing 
problem  of  a  different  nature  now  confronted  them. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  fully  appreciate  the  new  problem  con- 
fronting the  people  and  to  properly  evaluate  the  methods  which  Brigham 
Young  and  his  associates  employed,  a  few  facts  are  presented.  By  the 
end  of  the  first  summer  about  four  thousand  people  had  entered  the 
Valley.  They  were  without  surplus  food,  having  brought  with  them 
only  sufficient  to  meet  their  needs  on  the  journey.  They  were  practically 
without  implements  or  machinery  of  any  kind.  They  came  from  the 
fertile  lands  of  Illinois  and  Missouri  and  with  agricultural  knowledge 
which,  although  well  suited  to  the  conditions  of  that  country,  was  entirely 
unsuited  to  the  dry  lands  of  Utah.  They  had  become  familiar  with  the 
theory  of  community  enterprise  and  had  even  experienced  it  under 
certain  conditions  but  they  were  not  trained  in  such  co-operation  as  was 
required  in  irrigation,  road  building,  fort  building,  and  other  activities 
peculiar  to  the  new  country.  After  the  pioneers  had  been  in  the  Valley 
a  little  more  than  a  year  the  bishops  of  Salt  Lake  wards  took  an  inven- 
tory and  officially  reported  that  there  was  little  more  than  three-fourths 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  39 

of  a  pound  of  bread  for  each  person.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to 
learn  of  their  eating  roots  and  meat  of  cattle  killed  by  wolves  and  even 
boiling  the  hides  that  had  been  used  for  roofing  the  cabins.  Some  were 
without  clothing  and  were  compelled  to  cover  themselves  with  the  skins 
of  wild  beasts  when  even  such  could  be  had. 

The  psychological  effect  of  these  hardships,  coming  as  they  did 
immediately  after  the  persecution  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  cannot  be 
overemphasized.  The  Saints  naturally  regarded  their  poverty  and 
misery  and  the  loss  of  their  loved  ones  as  results  of  the  injustice  imposed 
upon  them  by  their  gentile  enemies.  Isolation  did  not  cause  them  to 
forget  these  enemies  but,  on  the  contrary,  every  hardship  they  endured 
was  a  bitter  reminder  of  those  who  had  deprived  them  of  home,  of  com- 
fort, and  of  happiness.  On  the  other  hand,  the  thoughtful  supervision 
of  Brigham  Young  and  the  leaders  of  the  group  and  the  kind  helpfulness 
manifested  by  the  brethren  developed  a  consciousness  of  Providential 
care.  It  is  in  just  such  situations  of  extreme  suffering,  with  the  accom- 
panying feeling  of  dependence  upon  others  for  sympathy  and  assistance, 
that  the  Providential  Spirit  comes  to  consciousness.  At  such  times  the 
representatives  of  the  group,  the  prophet,  the  bishop,  the  elder,  became 
clearly  the  representatives  of  God.  Whatever  else  Providential  care 
may  be,  it  is  certainly  the  spirit  of  comfort  in  times  of  distress. 

The  great  migration  was  also  a  splendid  discipline  for  the  extensive 
colonizing  enterprises  which  followed.  The  careful  organization  neces- 
sary for  the  moving  of  such  a  great  body  of  men,  women,  and  children 
proved  equally  efficient  in  the  establishment  of  numerous  small  colonizing 
companies  in  the  mountain  valleys.  And  also  the  type  of  discipline 
which  the  members  of  the  church  received  on  the  plains  certainly 
strengthened  the  control  of  the  priesthood.  The  power  of  church 
authority  was  so  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  the  Saints  during  their 
journey  from  Illinois  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley  that  it  tended  to 
remain  for  years  afterward,  even  when  rigid  authority  was  unnecessary 
and  sometimes  disadvantageous. 


40  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 


CHAPTER  VI 
MORMON  COLONIZATION 

The  question  of  social  control  was  not  so  perplexing  as  was  that  of 
making  a  living.  The  Saints  were  anxious  to  work  out  their  own  methods 
of  government.  When  they  entered  the  Valley  of  Great  Salt  Lake  it  was 
Mexican  territory,  but  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1848.  In  1850 
the  United  States  government  organized  the  Territory  of  Utah  and 
appointed  Brigham  Young  governor.  From  1847  to  1857  the  political 
control  was  left  absolutely  to  the  Mormon  people.  This  was  the  oppor- 
tune time  for  them  to  try  out  their  social  institution.  The  priesthood 
was  to  rule  over  Israel.  The  old  marriage  system  of  Abraham  and 
David  could  be  re-established.  The  communistic  system  and  the  order 
of  Enoch  should  demonstrate  their  practical  value.  We  shall  observe 
in  this  and  the  following  chapter  the  function  of  these  institutions  in 
meeting  the  new  problems. 

The  problem  of  colonization  presented  three  aspects:  (1)  How  can 
the  arid  country  be  made  to  sustain  human  life?  (2)  How  can  the 
Saints  gain  possession  of  all  the  productive  valleys  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains ?     (3)  How  may  their  population  be  increased  ? 

1 .  How  to  make  the  arid  region  produce  food  to  sustain  life  was  by 
far  the  most  imposing  of  the  many  questions  that  engaged  the  minds  of 
Brigham  Young  and  his  associates.  The  Saints  had  been  told  by  men 
of  experience,  traders  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  and  by  states- 
men at  Washington,  that  this  vast  Mexican  territory  was  valueless 
and  would  sustain  life  in  neither  man  nor  beast.  Thus,  before  entering 
the  Valley,  the  active  minds  of  the  camp  were  undoubtedly  focused 
on  this  question.  The  possibility  of  taking  water  from  the  moun- 
tain streams  and  distributing  it  over  the  dry  lands  had  no  doubt  been 
suggested  by  someone  who  felt  keenly  the  task  of  feeding  a  multitude 
in  the  desert,  for  the  very  day  on  which  they  arrived  in  the  Valley 
the  experiment  was  made. 

While  irrigation  had  been  practiced  in  Egypt  for  many  ages  and  had 
been  in  use  in  a  simple  form  among  some  Indian  tribes  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  it  was  Brigham  Young  and  the  Mormons  who  gave  it  a 
scientific  beginning.  The  task  of  constructing  canals  in  a  mountainous 
country  and  of  distributing  the  water  in  fair  proportion  among  a  com- 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  41 

munity  of  farmers  was  an  accomplishment  as  meritorious  as  any  of  the 
scientific  discoveries  of  significance  in  the  industrial  history  of  the 
country. 

But  it  is  irrigation  in  relation  to  the  great  colonization  enterprise 
which  concerns  us  here.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  irrigation  which  made 
it  possible  for  any  large  number  of  people  to  live  in  this  arid  and  isolated 
country  at  that  time.  Starvation  would  certainly  have  come  to  the 
thousands  of  Mormons  had  it  not  been  for  this  most  important  discovery. 
The  practical  demonstration  of  irrigation  made  possible  a  great  future 
for  the  new  country  and  its  inhabitants.  Brigham  Young  could  now  see 
in  vision  the  Saints  growing  in  numbers  and  becoming  a  "mighty 
people."  He  saw  them  occupying  every  valley  in  that  great  expanse  of 
country.  He  saw  the  water  of  every  stream  diverted  from  its  natural 
course  to  cover  the  dry  lands,  making  them  produce  useful  crops  in 
abundance.  He  saw  the  fulfilment  of  ancient  predictions  that  Zion 
should  be  established  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains  and  that  all  nations 
should  flow  unto  it.  This  was,  indeed,  the  "Promised  Land,"  and  the 
place  where  God's  Kingdom  was  to  be  established. 

Irrigation  began  on  a  co-operative  basis.  The  task  of  bringing 
water,  five,  ten,  and  twenty  miles  through  canals  cut  deep  into  hard 
rock,  along  steep  mountain  sides  and  through  soil  containing  roots  of 
trees  and  brush  was  not  accomplished  by  a  few  individuals.  It  required 
the  united  effort  of  an  entire  community.  This  was  always  taken  into 
account  in  sending  out  colonizing  companies.  The  size  of  the  company 
depended  upon  the  character  of  the  irrigation  project  that  must  be 
undertaken  as  well  as  upon  the  number  and  size  of  the  streams  of  water 
in  the  locality.  When  the  canals  were  completed  and  water  was  brought 
to  the  land  there  was  usually  enough  for  each  man  to  irrigate  a  garden 
plot  and  a  ten-  or  twenty-acre  farm.  In  the  construction  of  the  canal 
each  man  was  expected  to  contribute  his  labor  and  would  receive  water 
(water  right)  in  proportion  to  his  contribution.  The  canals  and  the 
streams  of  water  became  thus  the  property  of  the  community. 

The  social  and  economic  results  of  co-operative  irrigation  are  signifi- 
cant. The  country  was  settled  by  colonizing  communities  rather  than 
by  individuals  going  out  by  themselves.  The  individual  received  the 
assistance  and  protection  of  the  community,  and  the  community  in  its 
turn  was  strengthened  by  his  efforts  and  at  the  same  time  avoided  the 
evil  of  private  monopoly  of  large  tracts  of  land  and  streams  of  water. 
Consequently,  there  were  in  Utah,  until  recent  years,  very  few  large 
farms.     Small  farms  and  intensive  cultivation  was  the  natural  result 


42  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

of  the  Mormons'  irrigation  system.  This  situation  has  facilitated  the 
development  of  the  beet  sugar  industry  which  is  now  so  important 
throughout  the  entire  Mormon  country. 

But  while  co-operative  irrigation,  small  farms,  and  community  life 
still  prevail  in  Utah,  there  is  now  a  tendency  for  large  private  concerns 
to  buy  extensive  tracts  of  land  from  the  government  and  construct  large 
irrigation  canals  and  reservoirs  and  to  sell  the  land  and  the  water  to  the 
farmers.  Thus,  we  shall  see  that  in  the  agricultural,  as  in  every  other 
line  of  economic  activity  in  the  Mormon  community,  the  old  co-operative 
community  system  is  giving  way  to  large  corporate  methods  of  business 
control. 

2.  In  regard  to  the  second  aspect  of  the  colonization  questions,  it 
was  the  policy  of  Brigham  Young  to  have  his  people  settle  at  the 
earliest  possible  date  upon  all  the  irrigable  land  in  the  valleys.  He, 
therefore,  hastened  to  establish  colonies  in  the  many  valleys  of  Utah, 
and  in  Idaho,  Arizona,  Colorado,  Nevada,  and  Wyoming.  These 
colonizing  projects  were  called  missions,  and  properly,  too,  since  the 
building  up  and  the  enlargement  of  Zion  was  the  great  social  aim. 
During  the  general  conferences  of  the  church  at  Salt  Lake  City,  the  heads 
of  families  would  be  called  to  take  these  missions.  These  men  with 
their  families,  under  the  direction  of  a  bishop  or  a  bishop's  councilor, 
constituted  a  colonizing  company.  The  bishop  had  full  charge  of  all  the 
interests  of  the  company.  He  directed  the  surveying,  plotting,  and  dis- 
tributing of  the  land.  He  supervised  the  building  of  the  fort,  the  con- 
struction of  canyon  roads,  canals,  fences,  and  all  the  co-operative  work 
of  the  community.  He  was  also  the  lawgiver  and  in  case  of  dispute 
between  members  of  the  company,  he  was  chief  arbitrator. 

The  typical  method  of  establishing  a  colony  was  as  follows:  The 
land  was  surveyed  and  plotted  into  five-  and  ten-acre  lots.  These  lots 
were  then  distributed.  The  number  and  size  of  the  lots  that  each  man 
received  depended  upon  the  size  of  his  family.  If  a  man  had  five  wives 
and  each  wife  had  sons  old  enough  to  cultivate  the  land  he  might  receive 
five  times  as  much  land  as  a  man  who  had  but  one  wife.  If  a  man  were  a 
bachelor,  he  might  receive  still  less  land.  The  writer  interviewed  an  old 
gentleman  who  had  assisted  in  surveying  and  plotting  the  land  on  which 
Ogden  City  now  stands.  He  thought  that  due  to  his  valuable  service 
and  because  he  was  among  the  first  to  settle  there,  a  good  share  of  the 
choice  land  would  come  to  him.  But  how  disappointed  he  was,  when  the 
bishop  gave  him,  on  account  of  his  being  a  bachelor,  only  a  small  piece 
of  gravel  land  next  to  the  mountain.     The  city  lots  were  similarly 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  43 

plotted  and  distributed.  At  first  the  houses  were  built  to  serve  as  a  fort 
but  as  the  community  grew  larger  each  man  built  his  house  on  his  city  lot. 
Thus  a  community  of  little  more  than  thirty  families  had  its  city  lots  in 
the  central  part  and  the  farms  and  meadow  lands  on  the  outskirts.  This 
arrangement  was  desirable  not  only  because  of  the  social  advantages  it 
gave,  but  because  it  afforded  better  protection  from  Indians. 

3.  The  third  aspect  of  the  problem  was  one  of  numbers.  As  an 
empire  builder  Brigham  Young  needed  a  large  population.  If  the 
Mormons  were  to  occupy  all  the  valleys  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  they 
must  become  greater  in  numbers.  Two  ways  presented  themselves  as 
means  of  increasing  the  population,  the  one  through  proselyting  and 
immigration,  the  other  by  increasing  the  birth-rate.  Each  of  these 
might  be  presented  as  a  direct  religious  appeal,  the  one  to  "go  into  the 
world  and  gather  out  the  honest  in  heart"  and  the  other  to  "multiply  and 
replenish  the  earth."  Both  of  these  from  the  very  beginning  of  the 
church  have  been  considered  sacred  obligations.  It  was  for  Brigham 
Young  to  make  these  principles  serve  in  solving  his  practical  colonization 
problem. 

The  church  began  a  regular  system  of  immigration  shortly  after  the 
arrival  of  the  early  pioneers.  Proselyting  had  been  actively  carried  on 
from  the  time  the  church  was  organized  and  now  there  were  thousands 
awaiting  an  opportunity  to  "gather  to  Zion."  In  England  and  the 
Scandinavian  countries,  as  well  as  in  the  eastern  states,  there  were  many 
converts  who  were  too  poor  to  undertake  immigration  to  Utah.  These 
were  all  anxious  to  come  and  take  part  in  the  building  up  of  the  Kingdom 
and  Brigham  Young  was  no  less  anxious  to  have  them  come.  Although 
poor,  each  able-bodied  man  and  woman  was  an  added  unit  of  strength  to 
the  great  Mormon  enterprise,  and  the  poor  converts,  when  once  planted 
in  the  new  country,  gained  material  advantage,  for  many  of  them  were 
without  homes  in  their  native  land.  When  these  people  were  offered 
the  loan  of  transportation  expenses  they  were  not  slow  to  accept  this 
opportunity  to  move  West.  Few  there  were  of  the  great  number  who 
came  to  Utah  in  those  early  days  who  realized  the  physical  toil  required 
to  make  new  homes  in  Zion. 

The  immigration  was  conducted  under  an  organization  known  as 
the  "Perpetual  Immigration  Company."  The  presidency  of  the  church 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  organization  and  directly  controlled  its  operation, 
but  every  member  of  the  church  was  expected  to  make  contributions  to 
it  and  thus  become  a  member.  It  was  called  perpetual  on  account  of  a 
provision  that  those  who  contributed  were  not  to  be  remunerated  and 


44  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

those  who  were  assisted  were  to  return  the  money  with  interest,  thus 
making  it  a  perpetual  and  ever-growing  concern.  The  people  were  not 
expected  to  pay  cash  but  anything  of  general  value,  such  as  horses,  cattle, 
sheep,  wagons,  grain,  and  labor,  was  received  as  contribution.  The 
receipt  and  use  of  all  these  things  by  the  company  made  it  possible  for 
nearly  every  member  of  the  church  to  render  assistance  to  his  immi- 
grating brethren. 

The  following  figures  show  the  immigration  to  Utah  during  the  time 
the  company  was  in  active  operation  and  they  indicate  the  success  of  the 
scheme:1 

Immi-  Immi- 

Year  gration  Year  gration 

1849 2,078   1868 3,232 

1850 I,6l2    1869 2,300 

1851 1,370    1870 917 

1852 760   1871 1, 5°° 

1853 2,636  1872 1,631 

1854 3,667  1873 2,536 

1855 4,294  1874 2,006 

1856 3,533  1875 1,523 

1857 2,181  1876 1,184 

1858 none  1877 1,532 

1859-60 2,433  ^78 1,864 

1861-62 5,556  1879 1,514 

1863 3,646  1880 1,780 

1864 2,697  J88i 2,293 

1865 1,301  1882 1,775 

1866 3,335  1883 2,460 

1867 660 

The  company  not  only  paid  the  immigration  expenses  and  conveyed 
the  Saints  across  the  plains,  but  it  gave  them  opportunity  for  employ- 
ment and  directed  them  in  establishing  homes  when  they  arrived.  The 
names  of  the  immigrants  were  sent  to  Salt  Lake  City  in  advance  and 
posted  in  public  places.  Friends  of  the  immigrating  Saints  were  also 
notified  in  order  that  they  might  meet  them  and  take  them  to  their 
homes.  Those  who  were  not  otherwise  cared  for  were  furnished 
employment  in  public  shops  maintained  by  the  church  in  the  Temple 
Block.  Others  who  had  had  experience  in  forming  colonies  and  who  were 
financially  able  were  sent  out  under  the  supervision  of  a  practical  pioneer 
to  colonize  a  new  valley  which  had  previously  been  explored. 

1  Marcus  Jones,  United  States  Treasury  Expert,  Utah.  Utah  (a  pamphlet 
published  in  1890). 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  45 

The  instruction  of  Brigham  Young  to  one  of  these  companies  of 
newly  arrived  immigrants  makes  clear  his  spirit  and  method  in  dealing 
with  the  thousands  who  were  thus  brought  into  his  domain.  The  quota- 
tion also  illustrates  the  contrast  between  his  practical  and  direct  method 
of  instruction  and  Joseph  Smith's  divine  revelations. 

"  .  .  .  .  With  regard  to  your  obtaining  habitations  to  shelter  you  in 
the  coming  winter,  all  of  you  will  be  able  to  obtain  work  and  by  your  industry 
you  can  make  yourselves  tolerably  comfortable  in  this  respect  before  winter 
sets  in.  All  the  improvements  you  see  around  you  have  been  made  in  the 
short  space  of  four  years;  four  years  ago  today,  there  was  not  a  rod  of  fence  to 
be  seen,  nor  a  house,  except  the  old  fort,  as  we  called  it,  though  it  was  then  new. 
All  this  that  you  see  has  been  accomplished  by  the  industry  of  the  people,  and 
a  great  deal  more  that  you  do  not  see,  for  our  settlements  extend  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  south  and  almost  one  hundred  miles  north. 

"We  shall  want  some  of  the  brethren  to  repair  to  some  of  the  settlements, 
such  as  mechanics  and  farmers;  no  doubt  they  can  provide  themselves  with 
teams,  etc.,  to  bear  them  to  their  destinations.  Those  who  have  acquaintances 
there  will  be  able  to  obtain  dwellings  until  they  can  make  accommodations  of 
their  own. 

"Again  with  regard  to  labor;  don't  imagine  unto  yourselves  that  you  are 
going  to  get  rich  at  once  by  it.  As  for  the  poor  there  are  none  here;  and 
neither  are  there  any  who  may  be  called  rich;  but  all  obtain  the  essential  com- 
forts of  life.  Let  not  your  eyes  be  greedy.  When  I  met  you  this  afternoon  I 
felt  to  say  'this  is  the  company  that  I  belong  to,  the  poor  company'  as  it  is 
called  and  I  always  expect  to  belong  to  it,  until  I  am  crowned  with  eternal 
riches  in  the  Celestial  Kingdom.  In  this  world  I  possess  nothing  only  what 
the  Lord  has  given  me,  and  it  is  devoted  to  the  building  of  this  Kingdom. 

'  'Do  not  any  of  you  suffer  the  thought  to  enter  your  minds  that  you  must 
go  to  the  gold  mines  in  search  for  riches.  That  is  no  place  for  the  Saints.  Some 
have  gone  there  and  returned.  They  keep  coming  and  going,  but  their  gar- 
ments are  spotted  almost  universally.  It  is  scarcely  possible  for  a  man  to  go 
there  and  come  back  to  his  place  with  his  garments  pure.  Don't  any  of  you 
imagine  to  yourselves  that  you  can  go  to  the  gold  mines  and  get  anything  to 
help  yourselves  with.  You  must  live  here,  this  is  the  gathering  place  for  the 
Saints."1 

But  no  less  important  than  the  immigration  of  converts  as  a  factor 
tending  to  increase  the  Mormon  population  and  thus  hasten  colonization 
was  the  strong  emphasis  upon  early  marriage  and  polygamy.  The  origin 
of  the  Mormon  marriage  system  and  polygamy  as  the  cause  of  conflict 
is  treated  in  a  following  chapter;  it  is  intended  here  to  merely  call  atten- 
tion to  this  system  as  a  factor  tending  to  increase  the  birth-rate  in  the 

1  Address  of  Brigham_,Young,  Desert  News,  Vol.  II  (1852). 


46  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

Mormon  community.  It  is  a  basic  principle  in  Mormon  religion  that 
every  matured  man  and  woman  in  Zion  should  marry  and  raise  a  large 
family.  Bachelors  were,  therefore,  uncommon  in  early  days  in  Utah  and 
by  no  means  popular.  And  under  the  polygamous  regime  women  of 
the  class  stigmatized  "old  maids"  were  also  few.  Women  entertained 
suitors  from  among  both  the  married  and  the  unmarried  men  and  usually 
made  their  choice  early  in  life.  A  few  men  in  that  system  had  as  many 
as  twenty-five  or  fifty  children  and  women  ten  or  twelve  children.  The 
following,  published  in  a  Mormon  journal  in  1873,  illustrates  the  situation 
as  well  as  the  attitude  at  that  time  toward  the  subject: 

At  the  close  of  a  two  days'  meeting  held  at  Springville  a  gentleman  came 
forward  and  presented  a  specimen  of  the  practical  results  of  one  branch  of 
co-operation  very  peculiar  in  Utah,  though  rather  unpopular  in  some  of  the 
eastern  states.  This  was  a  fine,  straight,  four-year-old  boy,  which  the  father 
stated  was  the  tenth  child  of  its  mother  and  forty-fourth  born  to  him  since  he 
was  forty  years  old.  Such  co-operation  as  that  is  hard  to  beat,  and  is  worthy 
the  imitation  of  good  men  and  women  everywhere.1 

The  problem  of  colonization  was  thus  attacked  in  a  masterly  way. 
The  problem  of  making  the  arid  land  produce  food  was  courageously 
met  and  solved  about  as  quickly  as  it  was  presented.  The  solution  of 
the  most  immediate  problem  stimulated  the  colonization  spirit  until 
nearly  every  fertile  valley  in  the  great  Rocky  Mountain  region  supported 
a  small  colony  of  Mormon  people.  These  colonies  grew  rapidly.  The 
constant  stream  of  immigrants  coming  in  from  the  east  and  distributed 
among  the  colonies  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  large  families  were  now 
demonstrating  the  efficiency  of  the  entire  system. 

Having  thus  before  us  the  facts  of  the  operation  and  efficiency  of 
the  Mormon  colonization  system,  what  is  the  explanation  ?  Was  it  the 
result  of  a  great  genius  ?  Was  it  a  plan  carefully  thought  out  by  Brigham 
Young  and  his  associates  or  was  it  a  sort  of  chance  achievement  ?  Did 
one  man's  mind  work  it  out  or  was  it  the  accomplishment  of  an  entire 
community  of  minds  ? 

Our  functional  point  of  view  will  not  permit  us  to  regard  this  as  a 
plan  worked  out  in  advance  either  by  one  man  or  by  the  entire  group. 
The  plan  was  developed  in  the  process  of  the  adjustment  itself.  Men  do 
not  in  real  life  first  think  and  then  act;  but  they  act  and  think  at  the 
same  time.  The  Mormons  were  thrown  into  the  new  situation  and 
really  had  no  time  to  construct  plans  and  formulate  aims.  The  plans 
were  complete  and  their  aim  mentally  worked  out  only  when  the  actual 

1  Millenial  Star,  XXXV,  430. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  47 

work  of  pioneering  was  in  process.  They  later  had  the  plans  in  the 
form  of  institutions  which  in  many  respects  were  only  hindrances  to 
further  progress.  The  mental  equipment  as  well  as  the  institutions 
which  the  pioneers  had  for  use  in  organizing  their  new  life  was  the 
accumulation  from  the  first  great  struggle.  The  process  of  adaptation 
was  that  of  making  this  old  subjective  material  meet  the  new  objective 
situation. 

There  were  some  things,  however,  which  had  their  origin  in  the 
first  period  of  Mormon  history  which  did  carry  over  intact  into  the 
second  period  and  functioned  in  the  adjustment.  There  was  the  strong 
group  sentiment  which  held  the  individuals  together.  There  was  also 
the  old  ideal  of  building  up  an  independent  Zion  which  gave  direction  to 
the  activities  and  at  the  same  time  served  as  a  great  motive  force.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  great  immigration  scheme  could  have  been  carried 
out  had  not  this  old  ideal  played  an  important  part.  The  tithing  system 
which  had  its  origin  in  the  early  period  also  carried  over  into  the  new 
life  and  functioned  as  a  means  of  aiding  the  poor  members  of  the  group 
until  they  were  able  to  care  for  themselves. 

But  the  old  institutions  of  the  Mormon  group  at  the  beginning  of  their 
big  undertaking  were  not  entirely  adequate  to  the  new  situation.  They 
were  inadequate  for  such  relatively  quick  and  efficient  adaptation  of  the 
group  to  the  new  situation.  Only  in  a  very  general  way  do  these  things 
serve  as  material  out  of  which  a  plan  could  be  formed.  Brigham  Young 
and  his  associates  needed  direct  experience  with  the  new  conditions  and 
out  of  the  experience  itself  developed  the  plans  for  direction. 

The  one  condition  which,  perhaps  more  than  all  others,  brought  about 
quick  and  efficient  adjustment  was  that  of  concentrated  attention.  The 
crisis  itself  brought  about  a  focusing  of  the  attention  upon  the  problem 
of  making  a  living.  This  was  the  essential  condition  for  unified  action 
and  successful  co-operation.  Not  one  mind  but  many  thousands  of 
minds  were  active  and  alert  in  the  presence  of  the  new  situation. 

There  is  a  tendency  to  regard  the  colonization  scheme  as  Brigham 
Young's  plan.  This  was  not  the  case;  the  latter  was  inspired  by  his 
group  just  as  much  as  was  his  predecessor.  He  saw  visions  and  uttered 
predictions  just  as  did  Joseph  Smith,  and  they  came  as  did  those  of  the 
latter  from  the  powerful  inspiration  of  the  group.  Brigham  Young  was 
not  the  impulsive  and  emotional  type  of  leader  that  we  find  in  Joseph 
Smith.  But  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  he  was  independent  of  the 
group.  The  only  real  distinction  here  is  that  the  Great  Pioneer  re- 
sponded to  a  different  set  of  group  stimuli.     The  first  Mormon  prophet 


48  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

responded  to  the  emotional  excitement  of  his  people;  the  second  prophet 
responded  to  the  practical  attitude  of  his  people  toward  their  immediate 
problem.  Nor  does  the  distinction  lie  altogether  in  the  fact  that  each 
man  was  sensitive  to  his  own  peculiar  stimuli.  The  group  when  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  furnished  to  their  leader  stimuli  entirely  different 
from  those  which  they  presented  to  Joseph  Smith.  To  make  this  more 
obvious  compare  the  stimuli  which  the  people  of  Nauvoo  furnished  their 
prophet  upon  the  occasion  of  his  return  from  trial  before  his  enemies 
with  that  furnished  Brigham  Young  by  the  poor  immigrants  who  came 
into  Salt  Lake  Valley.  This  comparison  can  be  made  by  observing  the 
quotation  in  this  and  in  the  fourth  chapter.  In  each  case  we  may 
observe  that  the  words  were  only  reflections  of  the  attitude  of  the  group 
itself.    These  principles  are  illustrated  in  the  following  chapter. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  49 


CHAPTER  VII 

INDUSTRIAL  AND  COMMERCIAL  CO-OPERATION— THE 
UNITED  ORDER 

During  a  period  of  nearly  twenty-four  years  (1846-70),  from  the 
time  they  left  Nauvoo  until  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  reached  their 
country,  the  pioneers  were  engaged  in  a  desperate  struggle  with  nature. 
We  have  observed  how  effectively  the  Saints  met  the  problems  of  their 
primitive  environment  through  irrigation  and  carefully  organized  co- 
operative colonization  enterprises.  The  present  and  following  chapters 
will  explain  further  this  concerted  effort  of  the  Mormons  to  firmly 
establish  themselves  in  an  independent  kingdom.  During  these  many 
years  they  had  lived  in  peace  with  the  outside  social  world.  Their 
isolations  had  proved  to  be  a  safe  protection  against  any  serious  gentile 
invasion.  But  just  as  the  Mormons  were  beginning  to  realize  a  mastery 
over  nature  the  old  enemies  put  in  their  appearance  in  other  forms.  The 
rapid  extension  of  the  railroad  westward  gave  the  Eastern  manufacturers 
an  opportunity  to  send  their  goods  into  a  new  field.  Brigham  Young 
and  his  associates,  though  they  regarded  with  favor  the  approach  of  the 
railroad,  were  not  unmindful  of  the  new  problem  which  it  would  present. 
They  realized  the  advantages  that  such  communication  with  the  outside 
world  would  bring;  a  long  period  of  isolation  had  made  that  matter 
clear.  The  pioneers  knew  what  it  meant  to  transport  large  machinery 
across  the  plains  by  ox  team  and  the  weeks  and  months  of  time  it  took  to 
bring  a  company  of  immigrants  to  the  Valley.  But  while  Brigham 
Young  was  conscious  of  all  the  advantages  which  a  transcontinental 
road  would  bring,  he  could  see  also  the  danger  of  his  people  becoming 
dependent  upon  the  outside  business  life,  thus  weakening  the  independent 
community  life  already  so  well  established. 

The  great  Mormon  leader  was  determined  to  meet  the  new  situation 
in  such  a  way  that  the  advantages  would  be  enjoyed  and  the  evils  avoided. 
He  proposed  two  great  co-operative  movements,  one  for  production  and 
another  for  the  distribution  of  the  goods  thus  produced.  The  large 
machines  for  manufacturing  could  now  be  imported  by  rail.  These 
could  be  installed  in  the  local  communities  and  operated  co-operatively. 
The  articles  thus  manufactured  could  be  bought  by  a  home  co-operative 
mercantile  institution  and  sold  to  the  people.     This  home  production 


50  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

and  exchange  should  hold  absolute  monopoly  in  the  local  market  and  thus 
close  the  door  to  the  gentile  manufacturers  and  merchants.  Let  us 
observe  how  the  scheme  operated. 

Before  this  particular  co-operative  manufacturing  movement  was 
undertaken  by  the  church  the  greater  part  of  the  clothing  was  manu- 
factured in  the  home.  The  Mormons  lived,  in  a  very  real  way,  in  what 
economists  call  the  household  stage  of  industry.  Knitting,  spinning, 
and  weaving  were  going  on  in  nearly  every  wagon  during  the  entire  jour- 
ney across  the  plains  and  continued  for  many  years  after  the  pioneers 
were  established  in  the  valleys.  It  was  practically  impossible  to  buy 
clothes,  and  it  became  necessary  to  make  them  in  this  primitive  way  or 
dress  in  the  skins  of  animals,  as  many  did.  Sometimes  the  hair  of  wild 
animals  was  taken  from  the  hides,  made  into  thread,  and  woven  by  hand 
into  cloth.  It  was  the  task  of  the  women  to  make  the  clothes  worn  by 
the  family. 

The  household  manufacturing  was  an  extremely  slow  process  which 
by  no  means  met  the  demand  of  a  people  accustomed  to  better  things. 
Many  of  the  Mormons  came  from  the  manufacturing  districts  of  Eng- 
land and  had  made  and  worn  better  clothing.  But  what  were  they  to  do 
without  the  machinery  to  which  they  had,  through  many  years,  grown 
accustomed?  It  was  these  people  who  felt  most  keenly  the  need  of 
improving  conditions  and,  as  the  psychologist  would  state  it,  experienced 
a  felt  need  for  adjustment,  a  condition  which  usually  precedes  invention. 
These  people,  many  of  whom  were  iron  and  wood  workers,  soon  began 
to  create  simple  machinery  for  use  in  supplying  some  of  their  necessities. 
A  few  small  and  very  necessary  pieces  of  machinery  were  also  brought  in 
from  the  East  by  ox  teams.  At  first  the  houses  were  built  from  logs  and 
the  lumber  for  the  door  and  window  frames  was  cut  with  whip  saws  and 
held  in  place  by  wooden  pegs.  But  soon  the  blacksmiths  began  to 
hammer  out  nails.  Later  sawmills  and  gristmills  were  established  to 
serve  the  larger  communities  or  a  group  of  small  communities. 

But  manufacturing  in  Utah  did  not  become  general  until  at  least 
three  years  after  the  advent  of  the  railroad.  The  real  manufacturing 
boom  came  when  apparently  least  favored  by  economic  conditions.  It 
would  seem  that  the  time  for  home-manufacturing  was  when  the  Terri- 
tory was  free  from  eastern  competition.  But  on  the  other  hand  it  was 
the  railroad  which  made  possible  the  bringing  of  larger  machinery  into 
the  Valley,  the  condition  essential  for  co-operative  home  industry. 

This  was  the  opportune  time  to  preach  the  gospel  of  the  United 
Order,  and  for  nearly  five  years  this  system  was  urged  upon  the  people. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  51 

It  was  preached  in  every  religious  meeting;  special  pamphlets  were 
published  by  the  presidency  of  the  church  and  sent  out  among  the  people; 
the  papers  and  magazines  of  the  church  were  filled  with  discussions  of 
the  theory  and  practice  of  the  system.  Two  lines  of  argument  were 
presented:  one,  that  it  was  the  divine  order  revealed  to  the  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith  and  that  practiced  by  the  disciples  of  Christ  and  by  the 
Prophet  Enoch;  the  other,  that  it  would  serve  a  present  practical  pur- 
pose. The  possibility  of  the  United  Order  meeting  the  social  needs  was 
the  main  reason  why  Brigham  Young  advocated  it  at  this  time.  If  he 
thought  that  ideals  and  methods  of  Joseph  Smith  were  practical  he  would 
urge  them  upon  his  people  but  when  they  proved  to  be  unsuited  to  con- 
ditions he  would  make  such  substitutions  as  he  thought  proper.  Many 
of  his  associates  were  more  anxious  than  he  to  force  into  existence  insti- 
tutions that  had  no  other  justification  than  that  they  were  established  by 
Joseph  Smith  or  taught  or  practiced  by  biblical  prophets.  The  following 
statement  of  E.  W.  Tullidge  made  in  1876  illustrates  Brigham  Young's 
methods: 

In  the  altered  state  of  things  that  quickly  ensued,  Brigham  Young  met 
all  the  conditions.  Indeed,  so  rapid  and  varied  were  his  transformations  during 
the  next  few  years  that  he  may  have  often  seemed  to  have  been  reversing  him- 
self and  his  policies.  The  fact  is  he  was  testing  his  problems,  now  urging  his 
social  ideas  with  all  the  might  of  his  matchless  will,  now  accepting  with  resigna- 
tion the  degree  of  progress  attained  by  the  people.  This  has  been  strikingly 
illustrated  in  his  efforts  to  transform  the  Mormons  into  the  great  co-operative 
community,  and  to  establish  in  Zion  the  Order  of  Enoch.1 

A  few  illustrations  will  show  the  character  and  extent  of  the  organi- 
zation as  developed  at  that  time.  In  some  communities  it  was  merely 
a  loose  co-operative  undertaking,  in  other  places  it  was  highly  communis- 
tic. In  Hyrum,  Cache  County,  for  example,  the  people  owned  in  common 
the  sawmill,  the  tannery,  and  the  store,  but  the  individuals  owned  the 
farms,  the  houses,  and  the  cattle.  In  Price,  Carbon  County,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  people  lived  together  as  one  large  family.  Their  farms, 
mills,  horses,  cattle,  wagons,  houses,  and  everything  except  the  clothing 
they  wore  were  owned  in  common.  They  all  ate  at  the  same  table,  and 
the  women  prepared  the  food  and  washed  the  dishes  co-operatively. 
In  Brigham  City,  the  organization  included  about  fifteen  departments, 
each  under  the  management  of  a  foreman  who,  besides  directing  the 
labor,  kept  the  accounts  of  his  department.  This  institution  had  a 
woolen  mill,  a  saddle  and  harness  factory,  and  a  tailor  department. 

1  Life  of  Brigham  Young,  442-43. 


52  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

They  produced  men's  suits  and  fur  and  straw  hats  for  both  men  and 
women.  The  cabinet  department  supplied  the  homes  with  furniture. 
Besides  these  departments  there  were  sawmills,  machine  and  wagon 
shops,  a  large  dairy,  and  a  cattle  and  sheep  herd.  In  fact  nearly  every 
material  good  which  comes  under  the  name  of  necessity  was  produced 
in  this  little  communistic  village.  It  also  supplied  other  communities 
with  manufactured  articles.  Most  of  the  surplus  goods  were  sent  to  Salt 
Lake  City  and  sold  to  the  Zion's  Co-operative  Mercantile  Institution,which 
in  turn  made  such  distribution  among  the  settlements  as  was  needful. 

Through  the  Mormon  system  of  co-operation  and  the  United  Order 
the  manufacturing  establishments  grew  from  533  in  1870  to  1,166  in  1880 
and  this  notwithstanding  the  railroad  transportation  facilities  with  the 
East  and  the  constant  effort  of  non-Mormon  merchants  to  place  eastern- 
made  goods  on  the  Utah  market.1  The  explanation  of  this  rapid  growth 
of  the  manufacturing  industry  in  Utah  at  that  time  and  its  subsequent 
decline  is  rendered  more  obvious  when  we  consider  the  great  co-operative 
mercantile  movement  that  was  promoted  at  the  same  time. 

The  United  Order  and  the  co-operative  manufacturing  institutions 
were  incomplete  without  the  mercantile  business.  A  certain  amount  of 
exchange  was  necessary  within  the  communities  and  between  com- 
munities. An  organized  mercantile  institution  was  necessary  to  facili- 
tate such  business  relationship.  The  most  independent  system  that  a 
community  could  possibly  develop  found  itself  lacking  in  some  things. 
A  tannery  and  a  woolen  factory  could  not  be  economically  established 
in  every  community.  On  account  of  varied  altitude,  different  degrees  of 
soil  fertility,  the  nearness  to  good  water-power  and  timber  lands,  a  degree 
of  division  of  labor  had  to  be  practiced  among  the  communities. 

Furthermore  there  were  many  commodities  very  much  needed  by 
the  people  which  they,  with  all  their  diversity  of  industry,  could  not 
produce  in  Utah.  Most  of  the  machinery  used  in  manufacturing  had  to 
be  imported.  The  completion  of  the  railroad  and  the  importation  and 
the  advertisement  of  a  great  variety  of  eastern-made  goods  made  many 
people  dissatisfied  with  home-made  clothing  and  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  the  authorities  of  the  church  condemned  these  commodities 
as  luxuries  and  the  purchasers  as  vain  and  worldly,  the  goods  were  con- 
stantly coming  in  and  were  being  distributed  among  the  people.  Thus 
since  the  people  would  have  the  eastern-made  goods  it  was  advisable 
for  the  Mormons  to  handle  the  business  and  enjoy  the  profits.  More- 
over it  was  made  clear  to  the  leaders  of  the  church  through  experience 
with  the  gentile  merchants  that  the  interest  of  the  private  concerns  was 

1  Hollister,  The  Resources   ....   of  Utah,  p.  55. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  53 

in  opposition  to  the  interest  of  the  people.  Prices  had  been  higher  than 
was  thought  necessary.  This  was  not  at  all  in  accord  with  the  Mormon 
economic  ideal  that  the  welfare  of  the  whole  people  should  always  take 
preference  over  the  interest  of  the  individual.  Brigham  Young  was 
determined  that  his  people  rather  than  the  gentile  merchants  should 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  new  conditions. 

The  Mormon  church  was  thus  in  1868-69  brought  face  to  face  with  a 
most  vital  commercial  problem.  It  was  a  question  of  subduing  or  being 
subdued. 

The  issue  was,  Should  the  church  "hold  her  temporal  power  or  lose  it?"1 
Should  the  gentile  money  agencies  be  permitted  to  exact  tribute  from  the 
"  Chosen  People  "  ?  As  early  as  1868,  Brigham  Young  recognized  the  approach- 
ing problem  and  began  to  take  steps  toward  the  organization  of  a  co-operative 
system  which  he  intended  should  completely  monopolize  all  the  mercantile 
business  in  the  Territory.  A  year  later  his  scheme  was  completed  and  there 
was  put  in  operation  a  most  comprehensive  mercantile  system  entitled  Zion  's 
Co-operative  Mercantile  Institution. 

The  name  of  the  organization  suggests  its  nature  and  purpose.  It 
was  Zion 's  institution  and  was  sharply  distinguished  from  private  institu- 
tions which  were  of  Babylon.  In  front  of  every  store  under  the  system 
was  the  characteristic  inscription  "Holiness  to  the  Lord."  Thus  like 
the  United  Order  it  was  divine  in  character.  So  sacred  were  these 
co-operative  organizations  that  those  who  were  directly  identified  with 
them   entered   into   a   "covenant  by  re-baptism  to  be  subject  to  the 

priesthood    in    temporal    as    well    as    spiritual    things "     In 

fact  all  the  stockholders  of  this  concern  were  to  be  tithe  payers. 

Besides  the  large  store  established  in  Salt  Lake  City  called  the  parent 
institution,  there  were  small  branch  stores  located  in  all  Mormon  com- 
munities. Besides  handling  the  commodities  produced  in  the  local 
settlement,  these  small  stores  would  buy  eastern  goods  through  the 
parent  institution  and  sell  them  to  the  people.  Nearly  every  man  in 
the  local  community  owned  stock  in  the  "Co-op"  and  consequently, 
besides  feeling  a  religious  obligation  to  support  it,  found  it  to  his  advan- 
tage to  do  so.  And  for  a  few  years  this  institution  held  a  complete 
monopoly  of  mercantile  business  in  the  small  communities. 

But  in  addition  to  serving  as  a  distributing  agent  of  the  home- 
manufactured  goods,  the  Mormons  claim  for  the  co-operative  mercantile 
system  three  economic  results :  it  lowered  the  price  generally  of  merchan- 
dise, it  created  and  maintained  uniform  prices,  and  it  distributed  the 
earnings  to  the  people.  In  1873,  Mr.  Clawson,  the  manager  of  the  parent 
institution  estimated  that  during  the  first  four  years  of  its  existence 

1  Tidlidge's  Quarterly  Magazine,  I,  363. 


54  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

it  had  saved  the  people  $3,000,000.  In  1889,  when  the  institution  had 
had  a  twenty  years '  history,  we  read  the  following  in  a  Utah  magazine : 
In  the  twenty  years  since  co-operation  had  been  established  in  Utah,  its 
influence  for  good  has  been  recognized  in  every  part  of  the  Territory.  Not 
only  in  the  distribution  of  profits  among  its  numerous  stockholders  have  co-op- 
erative stores  been  a  benefit,  but  the  public  at  large  have  shared  in  the  profits, 
as  the  old  practice  of  dealing,  which  promoted  trade  to  increase  the  price  of  an 
article  because  of  scarcity,  was  abandoned.  People  had  no  longer  to  pay  a 
dollar  a  pound  for  sugar,  and  equally  exorbitant  prices  for  other  necessaries 
and  commodities.  Goods  have  been  sold  at  something  like  uniform  rates,  at 
reasonable  profits  throughout  the  Territory.1 

But  after  ten  years  the  small  co-operative  stores  were  not  succeeding 
as  well  as  the  parent  institution.  Many  of  them  had  ceased  to  be  co- 
operative. And  while  they  continued  to  carry  the  name  and  the  inscrip- 
tion "Holiness  to  the  Lord,"  in  the  minds  of  many  people  they  were  not  so 
"  Holy  "  as  they  were  intended  to  be.  A  few  successful  business  men  had 
purchased  the  stock  of  those  not  interested  and  soon  the  majority  of  the 
stock  was  owned  by  a  very  few,  who  at  the  same  time  enjoyed  the  monop- 
oly by  virtue  of  its  being  a  church  institution.  People  were  beginning 
to  complain  and  to  criticize  the  system  and  even  the  parent  institution. 
This  complaint  became  so  general  that  John  Taylor,  then  president 
of  the  church,  found  it  necessary  to  rebuke  the  critics.  This  rebuke  is 
significant,  indicating  as  it  does  the  relation  of  the  church  and  the  priest- 
hood to  the  system. 

".  .  .  .1  would  make  a  statement  to  the  Co-op.  I  have  had  reports 
from  the  North,  that  some  parties  who  ought  to  know  better  had  said  that  the 
Co-op  was  no  longer  a  church  institution  and  that  it  was  managed,  directed, 
and  controlled  by  a  few  monopolists  and  their  operations,  which  I  consider 
very  infamous  talk,  and  especially  coming  from  men  who  profess  to  be  men  of 
honor.  The  church,  I  will  here  say,  holds  an  interest  to  the  amount  of  $360,000 
and  then  there  are  580  stockholders  who  are  Latter-Day  Saints  in  it,  besides 
the  interest  which  the  church  holds.  And  when  men  make  such  statements,  I 
consider  it  infamous  and  contrary  to  correct  principles,  and  I  should  recom- 
mend their  bishops  and  the  authorities  of  the  church  where  they  live  to  bring 
them  up  for  standing  and  treat  them  accordingly.  That  enterprise  was 
started,  as  was  properly  implied  by  the  initials  of  its  name.  What  is  it? 
"Zion's  Co-operative  Mercantile  Institution."2 

The  parent  institution  has  continued  to  operate  but  with  both 
Mormon  and  gentile  stockholders.  It  is  no  longer  regarded  as  a  church 
institution  since  Mormons  and  Gentiles  alike  are  interested.     The  pay- 

1  Parry's  Monthly  Magazine,  IV,  195. 

2  Report  of  the  Fifth  Annual  Conference,  p.  74. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  55 

ment  of  tithing  is  no  longer  required  of  the  stockholders.  While  the 
president  of  the  church  is  at  the  head  of  the  institution  it  can  hardly  be 
said  to  be  controlled  by  the  priesthood  as  such.  There  are  about  seven 
hundred  shareholders.  The  Mormon  church  is  interested  but  it  is  not 
the  largest  stockholder.  More  than  25  per  cent  of  the  stock  is  owned  by 
non-Mormons.  In  191 7  the  capital  stock  was  increased  from  $1,077,000 
to  $6,000,000  and  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  value  of  its  assets 
places  it  above  $5,000,000  with  liabilities  of  a  little  more  than  $1,000,000 
making  it  the  largest  mercantile  institution  in  the  inter-mountain  region. 

From  1880  to  1890  is  the  declining  period  of  all  the  Mormon  co-opera- 
tive enterprises:  colonization  projects  had  been  greatly  reduced,  the 
many  co-operative  manufacturing  institutions  had  given  way  to  large 
private  corporations,  and  the  co-operative  mercantile  system  surrendered 
to  the  competitive  system  in  which  Mormons  and  Gentiles  alike  are 
actively  engaged.  But  though  the  enterprises  themselves  have  all  come 
to  an  end  their  influence  remained  and  is  significant.  The  co-operative 
agricultural  and  colonization  enterprises  were  the  very  means  of  human 
existence  while  the  Mormons  were  engaged  in  a  life  and  death  struggle 
with  nature  and  all  of  the  co-operative  economic  enterprises  have  had 
important  psychological  effects.  The  Mormon  group  consciousness  was 
influenced  as  much  by  this  community  struggle  with  economic  problems 
as  it  was  by  the  struggle  with  the  common  human  enemies  of  the  Middle 
West. 

The  second  stage  in  the  life-history  of  the  group  thus  comes  to  a  close 
with  certain  definite  results.  These  results  need  not  be  considered  here 
since  they  are  fully  treated  in  the  third  part  of  our  discussion.  But  we 
may  observe  at  this  point  that  it  was  during  this  period  of  Mormon  his- 
tory that  most  of  its  institutions  took  definite  form.  It  was  here  that 
the  priesthood  received  its  claim  to  the  guidance  in  all  the  activities  of 
the  people.  It  was  here  that  the  purpose  and  function  of  the  bishop  was 
most  fully  realized.  He  became  not  only  the  spiritual  advisor,  but  the 
captain  of  the  colonizing  company  and  the  chief  judge  and  arbitrator 
among  the  people.  It  was  here  that  the  prophet  was  made  governor  and 
received  his  political  authority.  It  was  here  that  the  tithing  system 
became  permanently  established  and  the  church  began  its  business 
activities.  It  was  in  this  isolated  situation  that  polygamy  was  first 
practiced  to  any  extent  and  all  the  Mormon  theology  connected  with 
family  life  and  eternal  progression  received  a  lasting  place  in  its  system 
of  philosophy.  All  these  institutions  were  passed  on  to  the  next  period 
and  are  the  sources  of  the  third  great  conflict  to  which  we  shall  now  turn 
our  attention. 


PART  III 

MALADJUSTMENT  BETWEEN  NEW  THOUGHT  AND 
OLD  INSTITUTIONS 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  INNOVATION  OF  SCIENCE  AND  DEMOCRACY 

On  a  psychological  basis  we  may  distinguish  four  Mormon  genera- 
tions. The  first  generation  lived  in  a  period  of  activity  and  excitement, 
of  strife  and  stress.  It  experienced  strong  emotions  and  spiritual  mani- 
festations. The  second  generation  lived  on  the  sentiments  and  tradi- 
tions created  by  the  first.  It  too  experienced  strong  group  feelings  which 
grew  out  of  the  thoughts  and  influence  of  the  past.  Like  the  first,  this 
class  was  unreflective,  but  lived  in  a  world  of  sentiment.  Then  comes, 
thirdly,  a  generation  of  philosophers  or  theologians  who  take  an  intel- 
lectual attitude  toward  Mormonism  but  whose  group  sentiments  are  still 
strong  enough  to  determine  their  thinking.  They  have  a  feeling  that 
Mormonism  must  be  right  and  they  set  themselves  the  task  to  prove  it. 
Theirs  is  a  sort  of  rationalism  similar  to  that  of  the  Middle  Ages.  And 
finally  we  have  a  generation  of  critics  and  scientists  who  seem  to  sense  very 
little  feeling  of  obligation  toward  the  group  but  are  placing  the  institutions 
of  their  fathers  on  the  dissecting  table  for  analysis.  This  class  is  making 
a  demand  for  greater  freedom  of  thought  and  discussion  and  it  is  this 
demand  which  is  bringing  about  a  third  Mormon  crisis.  Nearly  all  of 
the  Mormons  of  the  first  generation  have  passed  away  but  the  second  and 
third  generations  are  still  strong  and  it  is  these  two  classes  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  critics  on  the  other  that  are  bringing  about  the  present-day 
conflict,  the  maladjustment  to  which  we  shall  now  turn  our  attention. 
The  individuals  in  our  present  society  may  come  in  contact  with  each 
other  in  four  important  relations,  educational,  economic,  political,  and 
family.  If  there  is  lack  of  harmony  in  a  community  it  will  usually  make 
itself  manifest  in  one  or  in  all  of  these  ways.  Within  the  Mormon  com- 
munity at  the  present  time  a  conflict  is  clearly  manifest  in  each  of  the  four 
relations.  In  the  present  and  the  following  chapter  we  shall  discuss 
this  internal  Mormon  strife. 

When  the  Mormon  people  had  fairly  mastered  their  primitive  environ- 
ment and  were  well  established  in  their  mountain  homes  this  new  prob- 
lem arose.  We  may  regard  their  first  two  great  problems  as  external  in 
character,  a  struggle  with  another  group  and  with  nature.  The  present 
is  an  internal  problem.  And  whereas  the  preceding  conflicts  tended 
toward  greater  group  solidarity,  the  present  is  destructive  to  group  life. 

59 


60  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

When  the  outward  pressure  was  removed  and  the  community  had  created 
an  economic  surplus,  thus  giving  to  some  of  its  members  leisure  and 
opportunity  for  study,  individual  thought,  criticism,  and  skepticism  were 
given  birth.  So  long  as  the  people  were  at  war  with  nature  and  with 
another  society  there  was  no  time  for  personal  reflection.  So  long  as  the 
people  were  engaged  with  a  common  enemy  the  individuals  were  easily 
controlled  by  the  authority  of  the  priesthood  but  when  the  outer  prob- 
lems failed  to  demand  the  attenton  of  the  individuals  they  began  to 
look  into  their  own  institutional  life. 

The  new  spirit  began  to  manifest  itself  in  1869  and  1870,  in  what  was 
known  as  the  "Godbeite  movement."  Three  young  Mormon  elders, 
William  S.  Godbe,  L.  T.  Harrison,  and  Edward  W.  Tullidge,  men  of 
ability  and  education,  began  the  publication  of  the  Utah  Magazine. 
They  were  the  first  to  make  literature  a  profession  in  Utah.  They 
found,  however,  that  purely  literary  work  in  Utah  at  that  time  was  pre- 
mature. They  consequently  devoted  a  portion  of  their  time  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  what  they  thought  were  vital  social  questions. 

In  Brigham  Young's  great  co-operative  scheme  he  not  only  thought  it 
necessary  to  regulate  the  prices  of  the  manufactured  articles  but  believed 
it  desirable  to  determine  the  wages  of  labor.  He  called  a  meeting  of  his 
ecclesiastical  associates  and  it  was  agreed  to  reduce  the  wages  generally 
and  to  fix  the  wages  for  the  different  classes.  The  unskilled  laborers 
were  to  have  one  dollar  a  day  and  the  mechanics  were  to  receive  one 
dollar  and  a  half  a  day.  As  may  be  expected  the  working  men  began  to 
murmur  and  to  discuss  the  question  of  organizing  into  trade  unions. 
The  Utah  Magazine  took  up  the  cause  of  labor  and  published  an  article 
entitled  "Our  Working  Men's  Wages."  It  was  an  attack  upon  the 
prophet  and  his  social  policies,  and  a  dangerous  thing  because  it  dared 
question  the  wisdom  of  the  "Lord's  anointed."  Next  came  an  article 
headed  "Steadying  the  Ark,"  whose  first  paragraph  illustrated  the 
new  point  of  view  and  at  the  same  time  showed  the  actual  situation  as 
it  was  then  manifesting  itself. 

There  are  a  few  people  in  our  territory,  who,  whenever  an  independent  idea 
is  expressed  on  any  philosophical  or  theological  subject,  immediately  call  out, 
alarmed,  that  the  speaker  or  writer  in  question  is  "steadying  the  ark,"  meaning 
thereby  that  such  person  is  trying  to  dictate  to  the  church.  As  if — whether 
the  speaker's  intention  was  so  or  not — the  action  of  independent  thought  could 
by  any  possibility  be  dangerous  to  an  imperishable  system  like  ours.  It  is  a 
fear  of  having  something  of  this  kind  said  about  them  that  has  deterred  many 
a  person  from  expressing  conceptions  of  the  truth  of  which  they  were  assured 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  61 

but  which  did  not  happen  to  tally  with  popular  opinion.  The  existence  of  such 
a  fear  dwarfs  and  stunts  the  intellect  as  well  as  the  spiritual  growth  of  men; 
and  being  contrary  to  Mormonism  which  was  offered  to  all  as  the  gospel  of 
free  thought  and  free  speech,  too,  should  be  broken  down.1 

The  journalists  next  attacked  Brigham  Young's  policy  in  the  indus- 
trial development  of  the  Territory.  The  latter  had  from  the  first  opposed 
the  opening  of  the  mines.  The  wisdom  of  this  position  cannot  well  be 
doubted.  To  have  permitted  his  people  to  undertake  this  industry 
might  have  resulted  in  starvation  and  would  have  at  least  put  an  end  to 
Mormonism.  It  is  now  generally  conceded  that  Brigham  Young's  agri- 
cultural policy  is  largely  responsible  for  Utah 's  present  prosperity.  Had 
the  mining  motives  been  unchecked,  that  industry  would  no  doubt  have 
been  more  highly  developed  than  it  now  is,  but  the  great  agricultural 
resources  would  have  been  undeveloped  and  the  state  would  be  unable  to 
support  more  than  one-half  or  one-third  its  present  population. 

But  there  were  many  at  this  period  who  were  anxious  to  enter  this 
speculative  industry  and  were  waiting  only  for  the  church  to  change  its 
attitude.  The  writers  insisted  that  mining  was  the  industry  for  which 
the  territory  was  well  adapted  and  that  that  alone  promised  a  vast  sur- 
plus. The  people  were  carrying  on  business  largely  by  barter  and  it  was 
argued  that  what  the  community  needed  was  money,  and  that  the  best 
way  to  obtain  it  was  by  digging  it  out  of  the  ground.  Whether  so 
intended  or  not  the  publication  of  these  articles  was  regarded  as  the 
inauguration  of  a  rebellion  against  the  priesthood.  Such  liberty  could 
not  be  permitted.  The  writers  were  brought  before  the  High  Council 
for  a  hearing.  The  following  question  was  put  to  the  young  critics 
by  this  ecclesiastical  tribunal:  "Do  you  believe  that  President  Young 
has  the  right  to  dictate  to  you,  in  all  things  temporal  and  spiritual? 
The  reply  came  that  they  did  not  believe  that  the  president  had  such 
right  but  that  the 

light  of  God  in  each  individual  soul  was  the  proper  guide  and  not  the  intelligence 
of  one  human  mind.  According  to  the  Prophet  and  his  Apostles  this  was 
sufficient  cause  for  excommunication  and  action  was  consequently  taken.  The 
young  men  inquired  whether  or  not  it  was  possible  for  them  to  honestly  differ 
from  the  presiding  priesthood,  and  were  told  that  such  a  thing  was  impossible, 
and  that  they  might  as  well  ask  whether  we  could  honestly  differ  from  the 
Almighty.2 

Whether  due  to  the  controlling  influence  of  the  leaders  of  the  church 
or  to  some  other  cause  the  question  of  the  independent  thinking  and 

1  Tullidge's  Quarterly  Magazine,  I,  22.         2  Ibid.,  I,  32. 


62  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

freedom  of  discussion  within  the  church  did  not  become  again  a  disturb- 
ing question  for  a  number  of  years. 

Some  of  the  more  intellectual  leaders  of  the  church  had  written  books 
on  Mormon  doctrines  but  the  spirit  of  these  had  all  been  to  justify  the 
prevailing  point  of  view  rather  than  to  analyze  the  institutions  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  at  the  truth.  Of  course  there  had  been  men  not  con- 
nected with  the  church  who  had  taught  "heresy"  to  the  youth  of  Zion 
ever  since  the  time  the  church  was  organized.  Men  connected  with  the 
larger  state  educational  institutions  had  modestly  expressed  their 
opinion  on  what  they  regarded  to  be  the  "delicate  subjects."  But  these 
critics  were  all  non-Mormon  and  the  prejudice  against  those  of  the  other 
group  had  always  been  so  strong  among  the  Mormons  that  very  little 
notice  was  taken  of  the  criticism.  Should  any  of  the  youth  manifest 
sympathy  toward  the  new  interpretation  there  were  always  enough 
orthodox  Mormon  preachers  and  educators  to  counteract  the  unortho- 
dox tendency. 

But  about  1907  a  number  of  young  men  of  Mormon  parentage 
returned  from  eastern  educational  institutions,  where  they  had  received 
higher  degrees.  The  study  of  science,  philosophy,  sociology,  and  the 
higher  criticism  of  the  Bible  had  given  them  a  new  point  of  view.  Yet 
they  were  regarded  as  Mormon  boys  of  good  character  and  were  employed 
to  teach  in  the  high  schools  and  colleges  of  the  church,  the  system  from 
which  they  had  been  graduated  a  few  years  previously.  They  were  also 
placed  in  positions  of  responsibility  on  other  Mormon  organizations, 
intended  for  religious  education.  But  they  were  not  long  to  enjoy  such 
confidence.  Their  frank  expressions  of  opinion  on  such  subjects  as 
the  origin  of  man,  the  visions  and  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  literal 
interpretation  of  the  Bible,  and  other  subjects  in  which  the  orthodox 
interpretation  had  been  definitely  established  soon  brought  about  con- 
troversy. The  young  people  under  their  instruction  were  quick  to 
detect  disagreements  between  the  interpretation  which  their  parents  had 
placed  upon  these  things  and  that  which  was  now  made  by  their  profes- 
sors. The  students  were  mentally  disturbed  but  were  by  no  means 
antagonistic  toward  the  new  doctrine.  It  had  come,  not  from  gentile 
teachers,  but  from  their  brethren  in  the  church.  The  new  doctrine  was 
carried  home  to  the  parents  who  were  much  less  inclined  to  view  with 
sympathy  the  instruction  which  their  children  were  receiving. 

There  are  many  reasons  why  it  is  extremely  difficult  for  the  Mormon 
doctrines  to  be  harmonized  with  the  new  scientific  and  democratic 
conceptions.     The  more  basic  doctrines  of  Mormonism  center  around 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  63 

such  questions  as  the  creation  of  man,  the  literal  interpretation  of  the 
Bible,  the  authority  of  the  priesthood,  the  divine  and  eternal  nature  of 
Mormon  institutions,  God's  commandments  as  absolute  moral  laws, 
and  revelation  through  the  prophet  as  the  only  source  of  all  religious 
truth.  All  these  questions  create  friction  between  the  present  educa- 
tional spirit  and  Mormon  orthodoxy. 

Should  Mormonism  accept  the  evolutionary  point  of  view  some  of  its 
most  sacred  doctrinal  principles  would  have  to  be  abandoned.  All  the 
rituals  and  dogma  which  have  grown  up  about  Adam  and  his  mission  on 
earth  and  the  commandment  given  him  to  multiply  and  replenish  the 
earth  would  become  meaningless.  The  story  of  the  Book  of  Genesis  as 
well  as  that  of  the  Mormons '  own  sacred  book,  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price, 
would  become  mere  fiction.  And  to  regard  the  latter  as  fiction  would  be 
to  deny  one  of  the  foundation  stones  of  Mormonism.  Furthermore,  for 
the  Mormons  to  accept  the  evolutionary  doctrine  of  the  origin  of  man 
would  be  to  deprive  themselves  of  their  best  argument  in  support  of  their 
conception  of  God.  They  maintain  that  God  is  like  a  man  except  that 
he  is  perfect.  They  prove  this  by  the  Scripture  which  says  that  God 
created  man  in  the  likeness  of  his  own  image.  Thus  to  accept  as  truth 
the  evolutionary  theory  requires  the  sacrifice  of  the  basic  principle  of 
Mormon  doctrine. 

Nor  can  the  orthodox  Mormons  easily  accept  the  teachings  of  higher 
criticism.  As  already  observed  one  of  the  demands  which  brought 
Mormonism  into  existence  was  a  desire  for  a  more  literal  interpretaton 
of  the  Bible.  A  great  many  of  its  institutions  and  points  of  doctrine 
were  taken  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  That  means  of  course 
that  they  cannot  give  up  the  seventh  article  of  their  faith  which  reads: 
"We  believe  in  the  gift  of  tongues,  prophecy,  revelation,  visions,  healing, 
and  interpretation  of  tongues,  etc."  To  deny  that  these  things  took 
place  in  ancient  Israel  and  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  still  believe  the 
Bible  to  be  the  book  of  God  is,  to  them,  an  impossibility. 

Again  the  sixth  article  of  their  faith  reads:  "We  believe  in  the  same 
organization  that  existed  in  the  primitive  church,  viz:  apostles,  prophets, 
pastors,  teachers,  evangelists,  etc."  In  other  words  this  form  of  organi- 
zation is  eternal  and  cannot  be  changed  by  the  "whimsical  notions  of 
men."  The  divine  authority  of  the  priesthood  is  a  very  distinctive 
characteristic  of  Mormon  control.  The  fifth  article  of  faith  is  even 
stronger:  "We  believe  that  a  man  must  be  called  of  God  by  prophecy 
and  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  by  those  who  are  in  authority  to  preach  the 
Gospel  and  administer  in  the  ordinances  thereof."     All  knowledge  for 


64  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

the  guidance  of  the  church,  all  interpretation  of  religious  doctrine,  all 
authority  to  preach  and  teach  the  gospel,  all  commandments  from  God, 
must  pass  through  one  channel,  the  prophet  or  president  of  the  church.1 

Between  this  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  more  conservative  members 
of  the  church  toward  their  institutions  and  the  authority  of  the  priest- 
hood on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  attitude  of  the  social 
scientists  who  regard  all  social  institutions  in  the  process  of  change  and 
who  recognize  no  authoritative  control  above  that  of  the  people,  and 
who  find  human  experience  to  be  the  only  source  of  knowledge,  there  is, 
obviously,  slight  opportunity  for  compromise. 

And  so  it  was  in  the  case  of  the  three  university  professors  and  the 
committees  representing  the  general  authorities  of  the  church.  It  was 
impossible  for  them  to  come  to  an  agreement  which  would  make  it  pos- 
sible for  the  young  men  to  retain  their  positions  and  at  the  same  time 
continue  to  teach  what  they  regarded  to  be  scientific  truth !  The  follow- 
ing account  of  the  investigation  is  taken  from  the  Provo  Post,  a  paper 
published  in  the  community  in  which  the  controversy  took  place. 

An  extended  investigation  was  held,  at  which  the  utmost  freedom  and 
cordiality  was  extended  to  the  professors,  each  explaining  his  attitude  with 
perfect  frankness  and  candor. 

As  a  result  of  this  examination  and  investigation  the  committee  mentioned 
above  found  that  the  statements  of  Superintendent  Cummings  were  substanti- 

1  President  Charles  W.  Penrose  attempts  to  reconcile  the  demand  for  freedom  of 
thought  with  the  requirement  that  the  revelations  of  the  Mormon  prophet  be  con- 
sidered absolute: 

"We  don't  want  to  prevent  men  from  thinking.  I  have  heard  some  of  my 
brethren  say,  'Well,  do  you  want  to  stop  men  from  thinking?'  Not  at  all.  Liberty 
to  think  and  liberty  to  act  upon  the  thought  if  you  don't  infringe  the  rights  of  others. 
Liberty  to  think,  brethren,  liberty  to  read,  liberty  to  have  theories  and  notions  and 
ideas;  but,  my  brethren,  it  isn't  your  province  nor  mine  to  introduce  theories  into 
the  church  that  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  revelations  that  have  been  given- 
Don't  forget  that.  And  if  any  change  in  policy  is  to  be  introduced,  it  is  to  come 
through  the  proper  channel.  The  Lord  said  only  his  servant  Joseph  should  do  that 
while  he  lived,  and  then  after  he  died  others  were  to  be  called  to  occupy  the  place, 
and  the  key  is  in  the  hands  of  the  man  who  stands  at  the  head,  if  any  change  is  to  be 
introduced  in  our  church.  Don't  let  us  fix  our  minds  too  much  on  the  ideas  and  notions 
that  are  called  science.  If  it  is  really  science  that  they  produce,  something  demon- 
strated, something  proved  to  be  true,  that  is  all  right,  and  there  is  not  a  doctrine  of 
our  church  that  I  can  find  that  comes  in  direct  conflict  or  contradiction  to  the  sciences 
of  the  times  if  they  are  sciences,  but  a  great  deal  of  that  which  is  called  science  is  only 
philosophy,  and  much  of  it  speculative  philosophy,  and  these  ideas  change  with  the 
ages,  as  we  can  see  by  reference  to  what  has  been  called  science  in  times  that  are 
past." — Charles  W.  Penrose,  Eighty-eighth  Annual  Conference,  pp.  21-22. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  65 

ated,  and  they  recommended  to  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Brigham  Young 
University,  which  held  its  session  today  in  the  office  of  the  president  of  the 
church,  that  these  professors  be  required  to  refrain  from  teaching  doctrines 
that  have  not  received  the  approval  of  the  church. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  board  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  no  doc- 
trines should  be  taught  in  the  Brigham  Young  University  not  in  harmony  with 
the  revealed  word  of  God  as  interpreted  and  construed  by  the  presidency  and 
apostles  of  the  church,  and  that  the  power  and  authority  of  determining 
whether  any  professor  or  other  instructor  of  the  institution  is  out  of  harmony 
with  the  doctrines  and  attitude  of  the  church  was  delegated  to  the  presidency 
of  the  university.1 

This  action  of  the  general  authorities  of  the  church  had  important 
results.  On  the  one  hand  it  aroused  curiosity  and  stimulated  thought 
in  the  minds  of  many  of  the  young  people  of  the  church.  They  were 
anxious  to  know  all  about  those  things  which  the  entire  priesthood  had 
become  so  concerned  about.  On  the  other  hand  the  treatment  which  the 
young  professors  had  received  had  made  it  clear  to  them  that  these 
things  must  not  be  taught  or  discussed  in  the  church  schools.  This 
resulted  in  a  search  for  information  from  those  who  had  little  regard  for 
the  sacredness  of  religious  institutions.  It  had  also  the  unfortunate 
effect  of  stimulating  hypocrisy  among  young  college  men  and  women. 
Young  teachers  hesitated  to  express  themselves  on  important  matters 
of  scientific  and  sociological  value  for  fear  of  losing  their  positions  and 
receiving  the  boycott  of  the  church. 

But  notwithstanding  those  facts,  the  educational  institutions,  both 
church  and  state  schools,  are  the  great  reconstructive  forces  in  the 
Mormon  community.  They  are  injecting  into  the  minds  of  the  young 
people  of  the  state  knowledge  of  present  social  and  scientific  thought 
which  is  having  its  influence  in  widening  their  horizon.  The  young 
people  are  beginning  to  feel  a  power  within  themselves  to  discover  truth, 
to  analyze  and  evaluate  principles  of  doctrine.  They  are  taught  the 
importance  of  democracy  and  the  advantages  of  placing  in  the  hands  of 
the  people  the  right  to  make  and  change  social  institutions  as  conditions 
demand. 

1  Provo  Post,  February  21,  1911.  The  three  professors  resigned  their  position  at 
the  Brigham  Young  University  and  two  of  them  have  since  left  the  state. 


66  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  CHURCH  AND  BUSINESS 

"Institutions,"  says  Veblen,  "are  products  of  the  past  process,  are 
adapted  to  past  circumstances,  and  are  therefore  never  in  full  accord  with 
the  requirements  of  the  present."1  The  institutions  in  the  Mormon 
church  known  as  the  temporal  organizations  came  into  existence  when 
the  material  interests  of  the  members  were  largely  under  the  control  of 
the  priesthood.  But  for  psychological  reasons  institutions  once  created 
cannot  easily  be  eliminated  from  social  life.  The  fact  that  they  came 
into  existence  and  met  a  community  need  has  made  them  seem  vital. 
The  tithing  system  as  well  as  business  and  industrial  institutions  came 
into  being  and  developed  as  results  of  the  Mormon  effort  to  meet  material 
needs.  The  needs  were  met  but  the  institutions  still  remain,  causing  a 
maladjustment  similar  to  that  between  Mormon  dogma  and  science — a 
conflict  between  old  institutions  and  present  demands. 

In  pioneer  days  economic  life  and  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Mormon 
community  demanded  a  strong  centralized  control.  The  people  could 
not  have  survived  the  early  persecutions  had  it  not  been  for  the  ability 
of  the  church  to  help  those  who  were  reduced  to  extreme  proverty.  The 
tithing  system  and  the  contributions  were  found  very  helpful  also  in  the 
great  colonizing  project  of  Brigham  Young.  In  regard  to  the  finan- 
cial affairs  of  the  Mormon  church  three  criticisms  are  now  common: 
(i)  that  the  tithing  system  is  inequitable;  (2)  that  the  revenues  of 
the  church  are  controlled  by  a  few  of  its  leaders;  (3)  that  the 
pecuniary  interests  rather  than  the  social  welfare  of  the  people  have 
become  the  controlling  factor  in  the  distribution  of  its  income. 

1.  Dr.  George  H.  Brimhall,  former  president  of  the  Brigham  Young 
University,  presents  the  argument  for  tithing  which  is  typical  among 
those  in  the  church  who  feel  it  their  sacred  duty  to  justify  all  the  institu- 
tions of  Mormonism.     He  says: 

Tithe-paying  is  the  most  equitable  and  natural  distribution  for  public  sup- 
port. Behind  it  stands  the  principle  enunciated  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  "to  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  much  shall  be  required."  Tithing 
is  an  income  tax  divinely  assessed  and  paid  as  a  free-will  offering.3 

1  The  Theory  of  the  Leisure  Class,  pp.  191  f. 

2  Tithing  (a  pamphlet),  p.  5. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  67 

This  argument  does  not  appeal  to  the  critic  who  cannot  call  an 
income  tax  equitable  which  taxes  the  poor  man,  whose  annual  income,  let 
us  say,  is  $1,000,  at  the  same  rate  that  it  does  the  rich  man  whose  annual 
income  is  $10,000.  The  most  basic  ethical  principle  of  taxation,  namely, 
that  the  rate  should  be  in  proportion  to  an  individual 's  ability  to  pay 
taxes,  is  here  violated.  The  man  with  an  income  of  $1,000  who  pays  $50 
in  tithing  may  be  depriving  his  family  of  some  of  the  necessities  of  life, 
whereas  the  man  who  pays  $1,000  out  of  his  $10,000  income,  makes  no 
such  sacrifice.  His  family  will  still  have  sufficient  food,  proper  clothing, 
and  shelter.  Later  the  church  engaged  itself  in  promoting  certain  busi- 
ness enterprises  which  were  considered  necessary  in  the  community. 
The  machinery  for  the  maintenance  of  such  enterprises  thus  came  into 
being  and  has  remained  until  the  present  time. 

The  Mormon  people  are  now  well  established  in  their  mountain 
homes.  Persecution  and  extreme  poverty  no  longer  threaten  them. 
There  is  also  enough  private  capital  in  the  state  or  within  easy  reach  to 
promote  any  new  business  enterprise  that  the  future  social  need  may 
require.  The  church  does  not  now  make  a  practice  of  paying  the  ex- 
penses of  immigrating  the  Saints  or  of  feeding  them  when  they  arrive. 
In  fact  few  of  the  old  economic  problems  now  remain  and  yet  the  old 
system  still  remains  and  with  an  increased  revenue. 

The  late  President  Joseph  F.  Smith  informed  us  that  the  "entire 
tithing  of  the  church  in  all  the  world  for  the  year  1914  was  $1,887,920. 
In  1917  the  tithing  dispersements  totaled  $2, 169,489. "x  Besides  the 
tithing,  according  to  President  Smith  "enough  is  received  from  invest- 
ments to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  General  Authorities  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  office  of  the  First  Presidency."  The  amount  of  the  tithing 
annually  received  by  the  church  was  not  made  public  until  very  recent 
years.  But  owing  to  the  pressure  from  curious  people,  whose  imagina- 
tion magnified  the  amount  of  tithing  received  by  the  church,  President 
Smith  gave  the  information.     He  says: 

I  am  taking  the  liberty  that  has  not  been  indulged  in  very  much  but  there 
have  been  so  many  false  charges  made  against  me  and  against  my  brethren  by 
ignorant  and  evilly  disposed  people,  that  I  propose  to  make  a  true  statement 
which  will,  I  believe,  at  least  have  a  tendency  to  convince  you  that  we  are  try- 
ing to  do  our  duty  the  best  we  know  how.2 

Although  tithing  is  a  free-will  offering,  the  failure  to  meet  this  obliga- 
tion is  thought  to  bring  serious  consequences  to  a  church  member.     To 

1  Eighty-fifth  and  Eighty-eighth  A  nnual  Conference  Reports. 

2  Joseph  F.  Smith,  Eighty-fifth  Annual  Conference  Report,  pp.  129-40. 


68  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

the  non-tithe-payer,  "the  doors  of  the  Temple  are  closed  and  the  privi- 
leges of  sacred  ordinances  cut  off."1  He  is  considered  unfit  to  partake 
of  the  sacrament,  for  "He  that  eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,  eateth 
and  drinketh  damnation  to  himself."  And  finally  "Apostasy  is  the 
inevitable  end  of  persistent  non-tithe-paying."  Those  who  will  not  obey 
"  the  law  of  tithing  shall  not  be  found  worthy  to  abide  among  the  saints." 
To  many  of  the  Mormon  people  these  consequences  are  more  terrible 
than  the  consequences  which  may  follow  the  neglect  of  other  financial 
obligations.  In  fact  many  do,  as  President  Brimhall  claims  that  they 
should,  give  first  consideration  to  this  obligation. 

2.  But  the  power  that  is  exercised  by  the  authorities  in  the  control  of 
the  church  revenues  is  more  important  than  is  the  question  of  the  injus- 
tice of  tithing.  To  sacrifice  rights  in  a  democratic  society  is  more  serious 
than  it  is  to  suffer  the  wrongs  which  a  system  may  impose.  Where  a 
few  individuals  have  complete  control  of  the  large  and  increasing  church 
revenues,  and  where  these  individuals  obtain  their  positions  by  revelation 
rather  than  by  the  election  of  the  people  and  where  removal  from  office 
cannot  be  accomplished  through  the  people's  own  initiative,  we  have  a 
situation  entirely  out  of  accord  with  the  social  and  ethical  thought  of 
the  times.  The  late  President  Smith  was  conscious  of  the  criticism  and 
justified  the  position  of  the  church  as  follows: 

The  Lord  has  revealed  how  this  means  shall  be  cared  for,  and  managed; 
namely  by  the  Presidency  of  the  Church  and  the  High  Council  of  the  Church 
(that  is  the  Twelve  Apostles)  and  the  Presiding  Bishopric  of  the  Church.  I 
think  there  is  wisdom  in  this.  It  is  not  left  for  one  man  to  dispose  of  it,  or  to 
handle  it  alone,  not  by  any  means.  It  devolves  upon  at  least  eighteen  men, 
men  of  wisdom,  of  faith,  of  ability,  as  these  eighteen  men  are.  I  say  it  devolves 
upon  them  to  dispose  of  the  tithes  of  the  people  and  to  use  them  for  whatever 
purpose  in  their  judgment  and  wisdom  will  accomplish  the  most  good  for  the 
Church;  and  because  this  fund  of  tithing  is  disposed  of  by  the  men  whom  the 
Lord  has  designated  as  having  authority  to  do  it,  for  the  necessities  and  benefit 
of  the  Church,  they  call  it  commercialism.2 

The  very  arguments  that  he  presented  to  justify  the  system  are  the 
very  ones  that  the  critic  uses  to  condemn  it.  To  say  that  this  method  of 
financial  control  was  revealed  by  the  Lord  is  to  admit  that  it  did  not 
originate  from  the  people ;  and  to  say  that  the  eighteen  men  were  desig- 
nated by  the  Lord  as  having  authority  to  dispose  of  the  tithing  again 

1  George  H.  Brimhall,  Tithing  (a  pamphlet),  p.  4. 

2  Eighty-second  Annual  Conference  Report,  p.  6. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  69 

means  that  this  authority  was  not  given  them  by  the  people.  The  very 
fact  that  these  men  claim  the  divine  right  to  the  control  of  the  wealth  of 
the  church  makes  the  situation  even  less  democratic. 

But  the  older  members  of  the  church,  however,  do  not  raise  any 
question  regarding  the  right  of  the  priesthood  in  this  respect.  It  is 
entirely  in  accord  with  the  traditional  Mormon  notions  that  the  prophet 
of  God  has  the  right  to  direct  in  all  matters,  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual. 
And  then  again,  while  this  method  is  not  in  accord  with  the  social  and 
ethical  thought  of  the  times,  it  is  entirely  in  accord  with  the  everyday 
practical  economic  relations.  In  business  and  industrial  life,  absolute 
control  is  in  the  hands  of  the  relatively  few;  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  have  no  voice  in  such  matters.  It  should  also  be  observed  that, 
excepting  those  who  have  come  in  contact  with  the  new  social  and  ethical 
spirit,  the  Mormon  people  are  not  inclined  to  favor  innovations  of  any 
kind.  The  great  majority  are  rural  people  and  naturally  conservative. 
There  are  very  few  members  of  the  Mormon  church  who  belong  to  dis- 
turbing industrial  organizations  or  labor  unions.  The  church  has  always 
opposed  the  affiliations  of  its  people  with  organizations  not  under  its 
own  control,  and  consequently  a  very  few  Mormons  have  become  identi- 
fied with  labor  movements. 

3.  What  are  the  social  and  psychological  effects  of  this  system  and 
how  are  these  results  brought  about?  It  is  with  the  community  as 
with  the  individual:  when  the  economic  necessities  are  provided  for, 
what  is  left  over  is  spent  in  luxuries.  These  nonessentials  may  take  many 
different  forms  and  are  relative  to  the  stage  of  civilization  as  well  as  to 
the  interests  and  values  which  a  community  may  have  developed.  A 
community  may  have  developed  a  certain  class  of  spiritual  values  which 
it  deems  highly  essential  but  which  another  community  may  regard  as 
unimportant,  and,  considering  the  effort  spent  in  acquiring  them,  even  a 
positive  waste  of  time  and  energy.  There  is,  for  example,  in  the  Mormon 
church  considerable  time  and  money  spent  in  constructing  and  maintain- 
ing temples  in  which  hundreds  of  people  are  engaged  every  day  perform- 
ing sacred  ordinances  "for  the  living  and  the  dead."  Considerable 
money  and  energy  is  spent  in  maintaining  theological  seminaries.  To 
the  non-Mormon  these  are  real  wastes  but  to  the  orthodox  Mormon 
they  are  among  the  most  important  activities  of  the  church.  From  the 
social  point  of  view  these  things  must  be  considered  as  of  secondary 
value,  i.e.,  they  are  acquired  interests  which  should  be  satisfied  only 
after  the  primary  needs  have  been  met.  And  while  these  activities  were 
carried  on  to  a  limited  extent  in  the  early  history  of  the  church  they  have 


70  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

received  their  greatest  prominence  during  the  last  twenty  years.  In  the 
early  days  of  the  church  the  tithing  was  used  for  buying  land  and  for 
building  canals  and  factories  and  for  the  immigrating  of  the  Saints.  But 
there  is  no  longer  a  demand  for  this  type  of  enterprise  and  consequently 
a  large  part  of  the  tithing  is  spent  in  satisfying  "spiritual  interests." 

But  this  is  not  to  imply  that  the  church  is  no  longer  engaged  in 
business  activities.  The  church  owns  stock  in  a  number  of  corporations 
which  it  helped  to  establish  in  early  Utah  history  and  which  have  become 
very  large  and  prosperous  institutions.  It  has  also  investments  in  new 
enterprises.  The  motive  now,  however,  is  pecuniary  rather  than  social. 
It  invests  its  money  for  profit  and  not  because  the  community  is  in  par- 
ticular need  of  the  assistance  of  the  church  in  promoting  business  inter- 
ests. 

The  income  from  these  investments  pays  the  salaries  of  the  general 
church  authorities,  who  thus  naturally  become  interested  in  promoting 
the  business  from  which  they  receive  their  income.  This  explains  why 
some  of  the  apostles  become  active  business  men  and  adopt  the  business 
men's  point  of  view.1  Other  high  church  officials  were  prominent  busi- 
ness men  before  they  received  their  church  appointment  and  were  selected 
in  part  because  of  their  business  ability.  Joseph  F.  Smith,  while  presi- 
dent of  the  church,  was  president  of  the  Utah-Idaho  Sugar  Company,  of 
Zion's  Co-operative  Mercantile  Institution,  of  the  State  Bank  of  Utah,  of 
Zion's  Savings  Bank  and  Trust  Company,  of  the  Consolidated  Wagon 
and  Machine  Company,  of  the  Inland  Crystal  Salt  Company,  of  the 
Beneficial  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  of  other  companies  which  need 
not  be  named.  This  serves  to  indicate  the  great  variety  of  his  business 
interests.  In  some  of  these  neither  the  president  of  the  church  nor  the 
church  itself  owns  very  much  stock,  but  the  name  of  the  president  of  the 
church  attached  to  a  business  concern  gives  it  prestige  among  the  Mormon 
people  and  creates  an  attitude  of  confidence  toward  it.  Charles  W. 
Nibley,  the  presiding  bishop  of  the  church,  was  for  many  years  manager 
of  the  Utah-Idaho  Sugar  Company.  He  is  one  of  the  most  successful 
business  men  of  the  state.  Heber  J.  Grant,  now  president  of  the  church, 
and  Reed  Smoot,  an  apostle  and  United  States  Senator,  are  also  active 
business  men,  with  the  business  man's  point  of  view.  The  other 
members  of  the  quorum  of  twelve  apostles  as  well  as  the  presidents  of 

1  That  the  Mormon  church  has  through  its  leaders  become  strongly  pecuniary 
is  not  to  imply  that  social  interests  are  entirely  neglected  or  that  the  officials  are 
using  the  church  to  promote  their  own  financial  interests.  They  are  men  of  moral 
character  and  business  integrity. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  71 

stakes  are,  as  a  rule,  of  the  business  class  but  are  less  prominent.  Thus 
the  most  influential  men  of  the  Mormon  priesthood  are  business  men 
and  as  such  place  high  value  upon  pecuniary  ideals  and  methods. 

This  pecuniary  point  of  view  which  has  developed  among  the  authori- 
ties of  the  church  is  criticized  not  only  by  some  of  the  younger  members 
of  the  church  who  find  it  out  of  harmony  with  their  growing  democratic 
ideals,  but  also  by  the  older  members  of  the  church,  who  live  in  rural 
districts  and  have  not  kept  pace  with  this  developing  business  spirit, 
holding  still  to  the  old  co-operative  and  communistic  notion  of  the 
pioneers.1  The  latter  especially  are  inclined  to  question  some  of  the 
business  attitudes  of  their  leaders.  For  example,  Hotel  Utah,  one  of 
the  most  magnificent  buildings  of  its  kind  in  the  country,  was  constructed 
through  the  efforts  of  the  church  and  its  leaders.  Many  of  the  people 
who  come  to  Salt  Lake  City  only  once  or  twice  a  year  for  the  purpose  of 
attending  the  general  conferences  of  the  church  cannot  afford  to  buy 
accommodations  in  Hotel  Utah.  Coming  from  rural  communities  they 
are  naturally  conservative  and  inclined  to  hold  to  the  traditional  notion 
that  the  church  should  promote  the  interest  of  Zion  and  her  people. 
They  are  unable  to  understand  why  the  tithing  which  they  paid  should 
go  toward  the  construction  of  such  an  institution  which  only  the  wealthy 
Gentiles  can  enjoy.  Also,  before  prohibition  went  into  effect  this  hotel 
maintained  a  bar.  Why  should  the  Saints  contribute  their  means  to 
the  erection  of  a  building  in  which  liquor  is  sold  ?  This  criticism  became 
so  common  that  the  late  President  Smith  took  occasion  to  refer  to  it  in 
general  conference. 

We  have  helped  to  build  one  of  the  most  magnificent  hotels  that  exists 
on  the  continent  of  America,  or  in  the  old  continent  either.  I  am  told  that  it 
is  equal  to  any  in  the  world  in  its  facilities  for  convenience  and  comfort  for  its 
guests,  for  sanitation,  for  its  situation,  and  architectural  beauty,  and  in  many 
other  ways.  Well,  some  of  our  people  have  thought  that  we  were  extravagant. 
I  would  like  you  to  turn  to  the  book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants  and  read  the  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  in  the  city  of  Nauvoo. 
The  people  were  requested  to  contribute  of  their  means  to  take  stock  in  this 
building,  Nauvoo  House,  and  they  and  their  children  after  them,  for  generation 
to  generation,  should  have  an  inheritance  in  that  building,  for  it  was  intended 
for  the  beauty  of  the  city,  for  the  glory  of  the  stakes  of  Zion,  and  to  accommo- 
date the  stranger  from  afar  who  came  to  contemplate  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
and  the  work  of  the  Lord 

Now  I  hoped  and  I  prayed  and  I  voted  and  did  all  I  could  in  the  hope  that 
the  good  people  of  this  city  would  vote  it  dry  so  that  we  would  not  be  com- 

1  Heber  Bennion,  Gospel  Problems,  p.  36. 


72  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

pelled  to  allow  a  saloon  or  bar  to  be  operated  in  the  Hotel  Utah.     If  you  had 

voted  it  dry  we  would  not  have  had  any  bar  there 

But  it  went  wet  and  therefore  the  people  that  visit  us  want  something  to 
wet  up  with  once  in  a  while,  and  unless  it  is  provided  for  them  they  will  go 
somewhere  else  and  instead  of  beholding  and  viewing  the  beauties  of  Zion  they 
will  go  where  they  will  see  everything  that  is  not  beautiful J 

The  hotel  was  thus  built,  according  to  President  Smith,  "for  the 
beauty  of  Zion,  to  accommodate  the  stranger  from  afar."  But  the  more 
humble  country  folk  were  unable  to  comprehend  the  new  standard  by 
which  Zion  is  judged  or  to  see  in  this  representation  of  pecuniary  strength 
a  true  symbol  of  Mormonism.  They  had  looked  upon  the  humble  elder, 
traveling  without  "purse  or  scrip"  and  preaching  without  pecuniary 
compensation,  as  a  true  representation  of  the  gospel.  And  it  was  obvious 
to  them  that  the  "stranger  from  afar"  who  could  afford  to  visit  Hotel 
Utah  and  who  is  attracted  to  the  hotel  because  of  the  bar  is  not  the  type 
of  man  who  would  be  likely  to  become  a  member  of  the  church.  The 
class  of  people  who  would  be  impressed  by  the  display  of  pecuniary 
power  do  not  "come  to  contemplate  the  doctrine  of  the  church." 

Thus  the  business  man's  standards  and  point  of  view  is  rapidly 
developing  among  the  leaders.  There  is  a  growing  tendency  to  take 
sides  with  the  capitalist  class  and  with  large  corporations  against  the 
laboring  classes.  The  philosophy  of  the  church  leaders  was  at  one  time 
radical  and  socialistic;  it  is  now  conservative  and  capitalistic.3  They  do 
not  hesitate  in  their  sermons  and  in  the  editorial  columns  of  the  official 
papers  to  denounce  socialism  and  trade  unionism  as  anarchism  wThen 
those  become  active  in  opposing  the  interests  of  business  corporations. 
The  present  economic  order  is  accepted  by  them  as  right  and  proper.  In 
fact  their  philosophy  seems  to  have  completely  changed  in  this  respect 
from  that  held  forty  years  ago.  The  United  Order  is  as  far  from  their 
minds  as  is  socialism  from  the  minds  of  the  owners  of  large  corporations. 

1  Eighty-second  Annual  Conference  Report,  p.  30. 

2  President  Smith  disapproved  the  tendency  to  criticize  corporate  interests. 
"Let  us  please  fail,"  he  said,  "to  find  fault  with  industries  which  are  instituted  in 
our  midst  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  people  prosperity  and  advancement  ....  or 
help  to  build  up  Zion.  .  .  ." — Eighty-second  Annual  Conference  Report,  p.  10. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  73 


CHAPTER  X 
CONFLICTS  IN  THE  MORMON  MARRIAGE  INSTITUTIONS 

No  institution  or  doctrine  in  the  Mormon  church  is  regarded  as  more 
important  and  no  ceremony  is  performed  with  greater  reverence  than  is 
the  Mormon  marriage.  It  is  performed  in  the  most  sacred  of  places  and 
by  persons  possessing  the  greatest  authority.  The  covenants  and  vows 
made  on  this  occasion  are  the  most  binding,  and  grave  spiritual  conse- 
quences are  supposed  to  follow  the  breaking  of  them;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  greatest  blessing  that  can  come  to  a  young  couple  is  to  be  married  in 
the  temple  by  proper  authority  for  "time  and  all  eternity."  According 
to  the  Mormons,  proper  marriage  is  the  first  step  that  a  man  takes  toward 
the  creation  of  his  eternal  kingdom,  the  highest  ideal  in  the  mind  of  an 
orthodox  Mormon. 

There  is  perhaps  no  relationship  of  life  which  is  so  universally 
regarded  sacred  as  that  of  marriage.  From  the  most  primitive  tribes,  of 
Africa  and  Australia,  to  that  of  the  most  cultured  people  of  Europe  and 
America,  the  marriage  ceremony  is  conducted  with  some  degree  of 
reverence.  It  is  only  within  relatively  recent  times  and  among  civilized 
people  that  the  contract  conception  of  marriage  is  taking  the  place  of 
marriage  as  a  sacrament.  And  in  the  minds  of  many  sociologists  this 
transition  is  not  always  accompanied  by  moral  advancement  and  social 
stability.  According  to  Ames,  marriage  becomes  a  sacrament  in  primi- 
tive life  because  of  its  relation  to  the  reproductive  process. 

Among  primitive  people  the  gods  were  the  givers  of  life  and  of  material 
blessings,  including  the  young  of  the  flocks  and  the  children  of  the  family.  The 
gods  were  the  gods  of  fertility,  of  reproduction.  All  agencies  and  processes  of 
this  reproductive  life  were  sacred.  The  sexual  organs  and  the  sexual  acts  were 
sacred,  and  they  were  accordingly  consecrated  by  religious  ceremonies.  The 
very  antagonism  which  some  claim  to  discover  between  developed  religion  and 
the  sexual  instinct  is  due  to  the  fact  that  religious  customs  tend  to  regulate 
and  thereby  preserve  and  idealize  the  instinct.  Any  ascetic  tendencies  in 
developed  religions  are  more  than  offset  by  the  scrupulous,  sympathetic  regard 
for  the  reproductive  life,  which  is  expressed  by  making  marriage  a  sacrament, 
circumcising  or  christening  the  infants,  conceiving  the  deity  as  father  and 
exalting  motherhood  in  worship  and  art.1 

1  Ames,  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experiences,  pp.  221-22. 


74  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

Thus  not  only  do  the  Mormons  consider  marriage  as  sacred,  but  primi- 
tive and  civilized  peoples  everywhere  tend  to  view  sex  relationship  as 
sacred  and  to  make  the  religious  ideals  center  around  the  sex  life.  What 
is  the  explanation  ?  So  far  as  psychology  can  account  for  this  it  lies  in 
the  fact  of  attention.  Anything  which  frequently  attracts  the  attention 
will  little  by  little  receive  importance  in  the  scale  of  values.  If  a  thing 
receives  attention  from  the  entire  group,  and  for  many  years  it  takes  upon 
itself  an  element  of  mystery  which  inspires  more  than  ordinary  regard, 
it  becomes  an  object  of  reverence.  In  fact  out  of  the  sex  instinct  develop 
the  highest  ideals,  religious  and  moral,  that  the  race  has  attained. 

Professor  Thomas  attaches  great  importance  to  the  socializing  func- 
tion of  the  sex  instinct: 

This  sex-susceptibility,  which  was  originally  developed  as  an  accessory  of 
production  and  had  no  social  meaning  whatever,  has  thus,  in  the  struggle  of 
society  to  obtain  a  hold  on  the  individual,  become  a  social  factor  of  great 
importance,  and  together  with  another  product  of  sexual  life — the  love  of  off- 
spring— it  is,  I  suspect,  the  most  immediate  source  of  our  sympathetic  attitudes 
in  general,  and  an  important  force  in  the  development  of  the  ideal,  moral,  and 
aesthetic  side  of  life.1 

But  besides  the  powerful  instinctive  force  of  sex  life  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  individual  and  the  social  group,  attention  on  sex  relation- 
ship is  also  artificially  stimulated  by  ceremonials  and  formalities  that 
have  grown  up  unconsciously  and  which  now  exercise  an  influence  by 
themselves.  The  younger  individuals  in  the  group  are  in  this  way  com- 
pelled to  focus  their  attention  upon  that  which  is  made  so  much  of  by 
those  around  them.  They  imitate  readily;  first,  the  outward  expressions 
are  evident,  but  soon  out  of  the  expression  a  sentiment  in  accord  with 
their  conduct  is  developed. 

The  young  people  frequently  hear  long  discourses  on  the  importance 
and  sacredness  of  marriage  and  the  blessings  of  large  families.  They 
observe  the  building  of  temples  and  are  encouraged  to  make  contribu- 
tions to  their  construction.  They  hear  their  parents  tell  of  traveling 
hundreds  of  miles  in  order  to  receive  the  blessing  of  marriage  in  the 
sacred  buildings.  Curiosity  is  awakened  by  the  taboo  placed  upon  the 
discussion  of  the  sacred  rites  performed  in  the  temple.  All  this  talk 
about  marriage  and  preparation  for  marriage  combined  with  the  instinc- 
tive interest  in  sex  life  have  made  this  relationship  the  most  sacred  in  the 
Mormon  community. 

Before  considering  the  elements  of  conflict  now  active  in  breaking 
up  this  sacred  and  orthodox  notion  of  marriage  relationship  a  brief 

1  Sex  and  Society,  p.  1 20. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  75 

statement  of  the  origin  and  history  of  this,  the  most  basic  Mormon 
institution,  is  necessary.  Like  every  other  institution  and  doctrine  in 
Mormonism,  the  traditional  element,  brought  in  contact  with  modern 
conceptions,  has  occasioned  conflict.  A  maladjustment  existing  between 
the  accumulations  of  the  past  and  the  demands  of  the  present  has  caused 
contention  within  the  Mormon  ranks. 

The  ideal  form  of  marriage,  according  to  orthodox  Mormonism,  is 
that  which  was  practiced  by  the  ancient  patriarchs  of  Israel.  Abraham, 
Jacob,  Moses,  David,  and  Solomon  practiced  polygamy,  and  since  the 
God  of  Israel  approved  of  their  lives,  and  since  he  is  the  same  yesterday, 
today,  and  forever,  why,  they  argue,  should  he  not  sanction  polygamy 
among  his  favored  people  in  the  present  age  ?  The  orthodox  Mormon 
cannot  conceive  of  God's  plan  as  changeable  and  relative,  it  must  be 
universal  and  absolute.  They  admit  of  progress  in  the  human  race  and 
they  preach  eternal  progression  as  the  essence  of  God's  universe,  but 
the  condition  of  progress  they  state  in  absolute  terms.  For  example, 
there  is  no  progress  outside  of  the  bonds  of  the  "  celestial  order  of  mar- 
riage." And  the  degree  of  progress  that  is  made  in  eternity  depends 
upon  the  size  of  a  man's  family.  Polygamy  is,  therefore,  an  important 
condition  of  progress  and  a  basic  principle  in  Mormon  theology. 

But  it  is  not  enough  that  a  principle  was  practiced  in  ancient  Israel; 
before  it  can  be  accepted  as  a  part  of  Mormon  doctrine  it  must  be  sup- 
ported by  modern  revelation.  Thus  on  July  12,  1843,  when  Joseph 
Smith  was  contemplating  the  marriage  form  of  ancient  Israel,  he  received 
the  revelation  which  has  so  profoundly  influenced  Mormon  life.  The 
following  are  extracts  from  the  revelation: 

"Verily,  thus  saith  the  Lord,  unto  you,  my  servant  Joseph,  that  inasmuch 
as  you  have  inquired  of  my  hand  to  know  and  understand  wherein  I,  the  Lord, 
justified  my  servants  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob;  as  also  Moses,  David,  and 
Solomon,  my  servants,  as  touching  the  principles  and  doctrine  of  their  having 
many  wives  and  concubines:  Behold!  and  lo,  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  will 
answer  thee,  as  touching  this  matter. 

"Abraham  received  concubines,  and  they  bare  him  children,  and  it  was 
accounted  unto  him  for  righteousness,  because  they  were  given  unto  him  and 
he  abode  in  my  law;  as  Isaac  also,  and  Jacob,  did  none  other  things  than  that 
which  they  were  commanded.  David  also  received  many  wives  and  concu- 
bines, as  also  Solomon  and  Moses,  my  servant,  as  also  many  others  of  my 
servants,  from  the  beginning  of  creation  until  this  time  and  in  nothing  did  they 
sin  save  in  those  things  which  they  received  not  of  me."1 

While  the  Saints  were  in  Nauvoo,  polygamy  was  not  publicly 
preached.  Joseph  Smith  taught  it  secretly  to  some  of  his  associates  but 
not  until  August  29,  1852,  was  the  revelation  presented  to  the  church. 

1  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  132: 1,  37. 


76  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

From  that  date  until  1890  polygamy  was  taught  and  practiced  in  every 
settlement  in  the  Mormon  country. 

The  Mormon  isolation  in  the  West  was  most  favorable  for  the  estab- 
lishment and  growth  of  polygamy.  There  were  here  only  two  influences 
directing  the  lives  of  the  individuals,  the  thought  and  institutions  of 
the  Mormon  church  and  native  human  instincts.  Both  factors  favored 
plural  marriage.  On  the  one  hand  it  was  encouraged  as  ancient  custom, 
as  a  revelation  from  heaven,  and  as  a  means  to  a  great  posterity ;  on  the 
other  hand  the  fickleness  of  the  sex  instinct  favored  it.  The  only  reason, 
says  Professor  Thomas,  why  monogamy  is  practiced  today  is  because  it 
has  become  an  acquired  habit  by  the  race  and  "not  because  it  has 
answered  more  completely  to  the  organic  interest  of  the  individual." 
When  the  instinct  is  thus  not  only  set  free  from  social  restrictions  and 
conventional  influences,  but  is  actually  encouraged  by  the  only  social 
institution  now  influencing  the  individual,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
members  of  the  group  so  quickly  accepted  the  new  order  of  marriage. 

For  a  period  of  thirty  years  (1852-82)  the  polygamous  institution 
was  permitted  to  run  its  course.  It  was  difficult  for  the  United  States 
officers  in  Utah  to  handle  the  situation.  The  laws  were  inadequate  and 
the  enforcement  of  the  laws  was  a  still  greater  problem.  But  in  March, 
1882,  the  Edmunds  Bill  was  passed  by  Congress  punishing  polygamy  by 
disfranchisement,  imprisonment,  and  by  declaring  the  children  of  such 
marriages  illegitimate.  This  law  the  government  officials  in  Utah  were 
determined  to  enforce.  Hundreds  of  men  were  imprisoned  and  many 
more  driven  to  hiding  in  remote  places;  women  and  children  were  left 
unsupported  and  unprotected.  Many  deaths  resulted  from  the  hard- 
ships they  were  compelled  to  undergo.  President  Wilford  Woodruff 
wrote  in  his  daily  journal,  while  in  hiding:  "  There  has  never  been  a  time 
since  the  organization  of  this  church  when  such  a  universal  howl  was 
raised  against  us.  The  whole  land  is  flooded  with  lies  against  the  people 
of  God.  The  government  seems  determined  on  the  destruction  of  the 
faithful  Latter-Day  Saints."1  It  was  at  this  time  that  President  John 
Taylor  died  and  his  successor,  while  still  in  hiding,  writes  of  him:  "Presi- 
dent John  Taylor  is  twice  a  martyr.  He  was  shot  four  times  in  Carthage 
jail  when  Joseph  and  Hyrum  were  slain  and  there  he  mingled  his  blood 

with  the  martyrs Now  in  1887,  driven  into  exile  by  the  United 

States  officers  in  consequence  of  his  religion,  he  lays  down  his  life  for 
the  truth."2 

In  1890,  partly  as  a  result  of  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  law 
against  polygamists,  but  mainly  because  there  was  a  possibility  that 

1  Cowley,  Life  of  Wilford  Woodrujf,  p.  538.        2  Ibid.,  p.  560. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  77 

Utah  might  obtain  statehood,  the  president  of  the  church  issued  the 
" manifesto"  in  which  he  declared  officially  that  the  Latter-Day  Saints 
are  "  to  refrain  from  contracting  any  marriage  forbidden  by  the  laws  of 
the  land."  This  statement  is  significant  because  it  marks  the  beginning 
of  a  new  era  in  Mormon  history.  The  United  States  officers  ceased  to 
harass  the  Mormon  priesthood  and  polygamists.  Soon  Utah  received 
statehood,  and  peace  and  good  will  seemed  to  be  at  once  established 
between  Mormons  and  Gentiles.  Polygamy  did  not  discontinue  as 
quickly  as  the  government  officers  and  the  people  of  the  country  had 
hoped  that  it  would,  but  the  conflict  was  made  to  shift  from  that  between 
the  Mormons  and  Gentiles  to  a  conflict  within  the  church  itself. 

On  the  basis  of  their  attitude  toward  polygamy  the  Mormon  people 
are  divided  into  four  distinct  classes:  (1)  There  is  a  young  radical  class 
who  believe  neither  in  the  principle  nor  practice  of  polygamy,  and  who 
believe  that  it  should  be  eliminated  from  the  church  in  both  root  and 
branch.  This  is  the  growing  attitude  among  the  young  men  and  women 
of  education  in  the  church.  (2)  There  is  also  another  class  of  Mormons 
who  believe  in  polygamy  but  not  in  its  practice  at  the  present  time. 
They  interpreted  the  manifesto  to  mean  that  men  who  had  plural  wives 
at  the  time  that  it  was  issued  should  cease  to  live  with  all  but  one  of 
them.  There  were  a  few  men  in  the  church  who  thus  broke  up  their 
families  after  the  issuing  of  the  manifesto.  (3)  A  third  class,  and  per- 
haps the  great  majority  of  Mormon  people,  believe  in  the  principle  of 
polygamy  and  in  its  practice  to  the  extent  of  maintaining  the  marriages 
solemnized  before  the  manifesto,  but  they  do  not  believe  in  contracting 
plural  marriages  after  the  manifesto.  This  is  the  attitude  that  is  taken 
by  the  present  authorities  of  the  church.  (4)  A  fourth  class  is  also  found 
in  the  church  who  believe  that  neither  the  government  nor  the  church 
has  the  right  to  eliminate  an  institution  divinely  established.  This  is 
perhaps  the  most  consistent  orthodox  class.  There  are  a  few  men  in 
the  church  who  believe  that  they  have  the  authority  to  solemnize  plural 
marriages,  and  consequently  a  few  such  marriages  have  been  performed 
since  the  issuing  of  the  manifesto.  A  large  percentage  of  the  polygamists 
of  this  order  have  been  excommunicated  from  the  church. 

This  internal  strife  is  thus  a  very  complex  affair.  It  is  not  only  a 
conflict  between  the  orthodox  and  the  unorthodox  but  a  contention 
between  the  orthodox  polygamists  themselves.  But  the  one  which  need 
concern  us  here  is  the  struggle  going  on  between  the  radical  and  unortho- 
dox members  on  the  one  hand  and  the  conservative  and  orthodox  on  the 
other.  There  are  important  conditions  which  tend  to  keep  these  two 
factions  actively  at  war. 


78  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

We  have  already  observed  the  main  reasons  why  the  orthodox  Mor- 
mon element  cannot  easily  give  up  the  polygamous  doctrine,  (i)  It 
was  divinely  revealed  and  taught  by  the  prophet  as  a  sacred  marriage 
relationship  accepted  by  God  from  the  beginning  of  time.  (2)  Many  of 
the  leading  men  of  the  church  had  plural  wives  and  to  break  up  the 
family  would  mean  great  suffering  on  the  part  of  the  women  and  children. 
They  had  already  made  great  sacrifice  for  what  they  regarded  to  be  a 
sacred  marriage  relation  and  now  to  be  disowned  by  husband  and 
father  seemed  unfair  and  inhuman.  (3)  Again,  polygamy  is  regarded 
as  the  means  whereby  the  great  ideal  of  the  kingdom,  here  and  hereafter, 
is  realized.     Says  President  Woodruff: 

The  reason  why  the  church  and  Kingdom  of  God  cannot  advance  without 
the  Patriarchal  Order  of  marriage  is  that  it  belongs  to  this  dispensation  just  as 
baptism  for  the  dead  does,  or  any  law  or  ordinance  that  belongs  to  a  dispensa- 
tion. Without  it  the  church  cannot  progress.  The  leading  men  of  Israel  who 
are  presiding  over  stakes  will  have  to  obey  the  law  of  Abraham  or  they  will  have 
to  resign.1 

President  Taylor  said:  "If  we  do  not  embrace  that  principle  soon,  the 
keys  will  be  turned  against  us.  If  we  do  not  keep  the  same  law  that  our 
Heavenly  Father  has  kept  we  cannot  go  with  him."  And  (4)  finally 
it  was  polygamy  for  which  they  had  for  nearly  half  a  century  endured 
persecutions.  The  very  fact  that  it  had  required  sacrifice  magnified 
the  importance  of  the  institution  in  their  minds.  It  had  become  the 
one  phase  of  their  religion  which  created  discussion  when  all  other  points 
of  doctrine  passed  into  oblivion.  It  absorbed  the  attention  and  thus 
became  the  most  sacred  institution  in  the  Mormon  religion. 

But  there  are  also  forces  at  work  which  tend  in  the  opposite  direction. 
The  strong  emphasis  which  is  now  being  placed  upon  evolution  in  the 
high-school  and  college  courses  of  the  state  is  causing  the  young  people 
to  realize  that  the  doctrines  of  their  religion  are  in  process  of  change. 
The  orthodox  class  claim  that  the  social  institution  is  absolute  and 
eternal.  This  does  not  appeal  to  the  young  people,  who  are  interpreting 
the  notions  and  institutions  of  the  past  as  products  of  social  conditions 
then  prevailing.  Polygamy  might  have  been  the  most  desirable  form 
of  marriage  among  the  patriarchs  of  ancient  Israel  when  the  ideals  and 
mode  of  life  were  quite  different  from  those  which  now  prevail,  but 
to  reintroduce  the  old  institution  is  too  radical  a  departure  from  the 
present  standard  to  be  uncritically  accepted  by  the  educated  young 
people  of  the  church. 

Again,  the  ideal  of  a  large  family  does  not  appeal  to  the  younger 
Mormon  generation  with  the  force  that  it  did  to  the  pioneer  fathers. 

1  Cowley,  Life  of  Wilford  Woodruff,  p.  542. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  79 

The  economic  conditions  are  such  that  parents  cannot  now  raise  a 
large  family  and  maintain  the  standard  of  living  which  present  society 
demands.  It  is  a  greater  tax  on  human  energy  to  raise  a  family  of  three 
children  under  present  conditions  than  it  was  to  raise  a  family  of  six 
children  in  early  Utah  days.  Again  the  great  variety  of  opportunities 
open  to  those  who  have  a  sufficient  income  along  all  lines  of  education 
attract  the  attention  of  the  young  people  away  from  the  old  family  ideal. 

There  is  also  at  the  present  time  a  tendency  toward  free  social  inter- 
course between  the  children  of  Mormon  and  gentile  parents.  The  old 
prejudices  are  breaking  down  and  the  non-Mormon  influence  is  being 
more  directly  felt.  In  fact  there  is  an  increasing  number  of  marriages 
between  Mormons  and  Gentiles  and  a  relatively  decreasing  number  who 
are  each  year  married  in  the  temples  of  the  church.  This  situation  is 
keenly  felt  by  the  older  members  of  the  church.  Parents  who  have 
sincerely  believed  all  their  lives  that  marriages  within  the  church  and  in 
the  temples  are  the  only  marriages  which  God  recognizes  find  it  extremely 
disappointing  to  see  their  children  treat  this  sacred  matter  with  indif- 
ference. 

And  finally,  the  independent  attitude  of  the  young  women  in  Utah 
would  prevent  the  continuance  of  polygamy  even  though  the  government 
and  the  church  favored  its  practice.  Due  to  economic  and  social  condi- 
tions, women  in  Utah,  in  common  with  their  sisters  everywhere  in  the 
civilized  world,  have  developed  an  independence  of  life  which  would  make 
such  an  institution  today  impossible.  While  the  Mormon  people  have 
generally  given  woman  as  much  freedom  as  she  has  enjoyed  elsewhere  in 
the  country,  the  philosophy  of  polygamy  has  in  many  cases  led  the  men 
to  regard  her  as  little  more  than  a  means  of  bringing  children  into  the 
world.  When  man's  glory  is  stated  in  terms  of  posterity,  the  value  of 
woman  to  him  lies  in  her  power  to  thus  contribute  to  his  glory.  The 
sentiment  of  women  today  is  such  that  she  will  not  thus  sacrifice  her 
personality  and  especially  does  she  object  to  the  sharing  of  her  husband 's 
affection  with  another  woman. 

The  very  institution  which  caused  strong  prejudice  and  persecution 
from  without  in  early  Mormon  history  is  now  causing  dissension  within; 
the  same  force  that  created  group  solidarity  is  now  destroying  it.  The 
institution  of  polygamy  maintained  itself  so  long  as  it  met  with  strong 
opposition  outside  of  the  Mormon  group  and  so  long  as  the  native  in- 
stincts and  Mormon  institutions  controlled  the  individual  within  the 
group,  but  when  the  external  pressure  was  removed  and  educational 
opportunities  developed  a  variety  of  values  and  interests  within  the  com- 
munity, the  institution  of  polygamy  began  to  crumble;  and  before  long 
it  will  cease  to  be  a  problem  in  Utah. 


8o  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  ETHICS  OF  MORMONISM 

The  laboratory  for  ethical  study  is  the  field  of  human  history  in  all 
of  its  aspects — political,  economic,  and  religious.  The  unit  is  the  social 
group  in  the  process  of  its  evolution.  All  forms  of  social  control,  whether 
in  the  nature  of  sentiments,  customs,  laws,  or  divine  commandments, 
have  their  origin  in  active  social  life.  In  the  development  of  moral 
standards  every  human  instinct,  every  interest,  every  problem  which  has 
concerned  the  community,  whether  inherited  from  the  past  or  imposed 
by  the  environment,  has  had  its  effect.  The  meaning  and  significance 
of  moral  standards  can  be  ascertained  only  by  a  study  of  their  origin  and 
function  in  a  concrete,  active  social  process. 

The  life-history  of  the  Mormon  group  furnishes  suitable  material  for 
such  a  study.  In  the  first  place  the  group  has  developed  in  almost  com- 
plete isolation.  This  makes  the  task  of  singling  out  the  factors  which 
have  determined  its  moral  standards  relatively  easy.  In  the  second 
place  the  Mormon  group  has  been  subjected  to  very  frequent  and  radical 
changes  in  its  environment.  These  conditions  have  occasioned  read- 
justments which  are  significant  not  only  from  the  social  and  psychological 
but  from  the  ethical  point  of  view.  A  transition  from  one  social  stage 
to  another  reveals  certain  aspects  and  principles  in  human  life  which 
would  not  be  noticed  under  less  active  social  conditions.  And,  thirdly, 
we  have  here  the  complete  life-history  of  a  group.  We  are  thus  able 
to  view  the  moral  standards  in  relation  to  their  origin,  their  function, 
and  their  termination. 

The  moral  concepts  in  Mormonism  have  developed  out  of  vital 
group  experiences.  Thus  to  give  a  satisfactory  account  of  them  we  must 
consider  them  in  relation  to  the  three  great  Mormon  crises.  Our  dis- 
cussion thus  divides  itself  into  three  parts:  (i)  The  group  morality  of 
the  Mormons  as  the  result  of  their  conflicts  with  the  non-Mormons  of 
Illinois  and  Missouri.  (2)  The  practical  and  materialistic  ethical  concep- 
tions which  developed  out  of  the  economic  struggle  in  the  Great  Basin. 
(3)  The  present  theological  ethics  considered  as  the  crystallization  of 
older  group  sentiments  and  ideals.  These  three  stages  in  Mormon  ethics 
correspond,  to  a  certain  degree,  with  three  common  ethical  points  of 
view.     The  attitude  in  the  first  stage  resembles  that  of  the  sentimentalist, 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  81 

conceiving  morality  as  a  feeling  attitude.  The  second  stage  is  essentially 
the  utilitarian  attitude.  The  material  welfare  of  the  community  seems 
to  be  the  ethical  criterion.  In  the  third  stage  we  have  a  sort  of  casuistic 
attitude.  Morality  is  here  regarded  as  a  matter  of  adhering  to  a  code  of 
rules  or  commandments. 

Although  the  concrete  material  presented  in  this  chapter  is  selected 
to  illustrate  what  is  essentially  peculiar  to  the  Mormon  ethical  life  and 
to  each  of  the  three  stages  in  their  ethical  development,  it  should  not  be 
inferred  from  this  that  the  general  moral  standards  and  ethical  notions 
of  the  Mormon  people  are  essentially  different  from  those  of  other 
people  or  that  there  is  an  absolute  difference  between  the  moral  attitudes 
of  the  three  levels  in  Mormon  moral  evolution.  There  are  more  simi- 
larities between  the  Mormon  and  non-Mormon  ethics  than  there  are 
differences;  and  so  also  there  are  more  similarities  between  the  three 
stages  than  there  are  differences.  However,  the  fact  that  there  are  dif- 
ferences, whatever  the  degree  may  be,  is  still  significant  and  presents  a 
real  problem.  Our  effort  is  to  make  clear  these  distinctions  and  give  an 
explanation  for  them.  The  material  selected  and  the  method  employed 
should  do  this  without  at  the  same  time  conveying  the  false  impression 
of  absolute  distinctions.  While  there  are  variations  in  the  moral  stand- 
ards of  different  groups  and  within  social  groups  there  is  also  unity  and 
continuity  without  which  differences  would  have  no  meaning. 

Before  entering  upon  the  main  problem  of  this  chapter  it  is  necessary 
to  state  briefly  the  psychological  premises  of  our  discussion.  It  is  here 
maintained  that  the  moral  self  is  essentially  social  and  that  the  individual 
becomes  conscious  of  moral  values  just  as  he  does  of  every  other  class 
of  interests  through  a  process  of  action  and  reaction  with  the  other  mem- 
bers of  his  group.  Our  second  proposition  is  that  the  moral  sentiments 
of  Mormonism  are  mainly  group  sentiments,  simple  and  intense  in  the 
first  stage  but  developing  through  the  problems  of  the  second  and  third 
stages  into  a  more  complex  system  of  group  control.  These  group  senti- 
ments are  personified  in  the  God  of  Israel.  He  is  the  embodiment  of  the 
moral  concepts  of  the  group.  Although  these  principles  have  been  suffi- 
ciently demonstrated  in  previous  chapters  and  may  here  be  regarded  as 
premises  of  our  discussion,  yet  their  direct  application  in  this  connection 
will  more  fully  establish  their  validity. 


The  first  period  in  Mormon  history,  the  period  in  which  Joseph  Smith 
was  prophet  to  the  group,  we  have  already  characterized  as  that  of  great 


82  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

excitement  and  intense  emotional  experiences.  It  was  the  period  of 
visions  and  revelations.  Practically  all  the  revelations  that  were  ever 
given  to  the  church  came  at  this  time.  It  was  the  time  of  miracles,  or 
prophecies,  of  signs  and  wonders.  It  was  the  time  when  "  whole  villages  " 
were  converted  in  a  day  and  hundreds  apostatized  at  the  same  time.1  It 
was  the  period  of  uncertainty,  of  instability.  Psychologically,  it  was 
the  stage  of  alternate  joy  and  sorrow,  of  great  love  and  intense  hatred. 
It  was  the  initial  stage  of  Mormonism,  when  the  group  was  being  formed 
and  its  attitudes  established. 

We  have  pointed  out  in  previous  chapters  how  the  Mormons  appro- 
priated both  the  name  and  the  traditions  of  ancient  Israel;  and  how  this 
imitation  of  ancient  ceremonies  and  of  Bible  language,  and  the  claims  to 
revelation  and  divine  authority,  tended  to  create  prejudice  and  perse- 
cution against  Joseph  Smith  and  his  followers.  Out  of  this  conflict 
developed,  as  we  have  observed,  the  Mormon  group  spirit.  We  shall 
now  see  how  this  group  spirit  affected  the  moral  attitude  of  the  people. 
The  revelations  and  sermons  and  literature  of  this  period  clearly  reflect 
the  moral  sentiments. 

We  have  here  the  characteristic  traits  of  group  morality.  All  people 
outside  of  the  group  were  enemies  and  all  within  the  group  were  brethren. 
The  God  of  Israel  was  the  God  of  Mormonism  and  the  devil  ruled  over 
the  Gentiles.  "The  devil  shall  have  power  over  his  own  dominion," 
says  the  revelation,  "and  the  Lord  shall  have  power  over  his  Saints 
and  shall  reign  in  their  midst  and  shall  come  down  in  judgment  upon.  .  .  . 
the  world."2  And  again,  "Let  all  the  Saints  rejoice,  therefore,  and  be 
exceeding  glad,  for  Israel's  God  is  their  God  and  He  will  mete  out  a  just 
recompense  of  reward  upon  the  heads  of  all  their  oppressors."3  These 
were  not  simply  the  expressions  of  Joseph  Smith.  They  were  the  senti- 
ments of  the  group.  They  expressed  the  spirit  which  transcended  the  life 
and  spirit  of  any  one  individual.  The  God  of  Israel,  the  spirit  of  the 
group,  was  speaking. 

God  was  on  the  side  of  the  Mormon  group  and  would  punish  all  who 
rebelled  against  the  chosen  people.  "And  the  rebellious  shall  be  pierced 
with  much  sorrow"  and  he  who  will  not  hear  the  voice  of  the  servants  of 
God  "  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  the  people  "  and  "  shall  perish  in  Baby- 
lon, even  Babylon  the  great  shall  fall."4    But,  on  the  other  hand,  observe 

1  O.  F.  Whitney,  Life  of  Heber  C.  Kimball,  pp.  181-93,  I94~99- 
1  Joseph  Smith,  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  1 :  35-36. 
» Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Section  127:3. 
*  Ibid.,  Section  1:3,  14,  16. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  83 

the  sentiment  toward  the  Mormon  group.  "Therefore,  fear  not,  little 
flock,  do  good,  let  earth  and  hell  combine  against  you,  for  if  ye  are  built 
upon  my  Rock,  they  cannot  prevail."1  And  again,  "Awake!  O  Kings  of 
the  earth!  come  ye  with  your  gold  and  your  silver,  to  the  help  of  my 
people,  to  the  home  of  the  daughters  of  Zion."2 

These  expressions,  while  imitative  of  Old  Testament  prophets,  did 
reflect  the  Mormon  group  spirit.  In  fact  the  Mormons  regarded  them- 
selves as  belonging  to  the  Israelitish  group  and  of  the  same  blood.  And 
all  who  are  of  the  blood  of  Israel  are  favored  of  God  but  the  "rebellious 
are  not  of  the  blood  of  Ephraim,  wherefore  they  shall  be  plucked  out."3 
This  enlargement  of  the  group  to  include  ancient  Israel  gave  strength  to 
the  group  sentiments.  The  tribal  God  of  ancient  Israel  and  the  ani- 
mosity which  Israel  held  toward  other  tribes  seemed  to  correspond  to 
the  spirit  of  Mormonism  at  that  time  and  was  easily  taken  over  into  its 
own  group  life. 

Group  morality  was  also  shown  in  dealing  with  the  members  of  the 
group.  The  great  sin  was  disloyalty.  This  was  a  sufficient  cause  for  ex- 
communication. The  following  cases  are  illustrative:  W.  W.  Phelps 
and  John  Whitmer  were  severed  from  the  church  for  "selling  their  lands 
in  Jackson  County"  and  thereby  setting  "an  example  which  all  the 
Saints  were  liable  to  follow."  To  sell  their  inheritance  in  Zion  "was  a 
hellish  principle,  and.  .  .  .  they  had  flatly  denied  the  faith  in  so  doing."4 
David  Whitmer  was  excommunicated  for  "leaving  or  forsaking  the  cause 
of  God,  and  returning  to  the  beggarly  elements  of  the  world,  and  neglect- 
ing the  high  and  holy  calling  according  to  his  profession."5 

It  was  this  bitter  group  antagonism  which  gave  birth  to  the  sentiment 
of  fellow-feeling  and  brotherly  love  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the 
Mormons,  especially  during  their  early  history.  It  was  a  despised  enemy 
which  made  them  conscious  of  their  beloved  brethren.  The  fact  that 
the  entire  group  focused  its  attention  upon  the  enemy  was  the  essential 
condition  for  sympathy  within  the  group.  It  was  the  common  object  of 
hate  which  conditioned  the  common  object  of  love.  The  individual 
becoming  so  completely  merged  into  the  activity  of  the  group  lost  con- 
sciousness of  personal  interests.  His  entire  life  became  identified  with 
his  group.  The  self  was  a  group  self;  it  was  made  up  of  the  combined 
interests  of  all  the  brethren.     When  they  suffered  he  suffered  in  a  very 

1  Ibid.,  Section  6: 34. 

2 Ibid.,  Section  124: 11. 

3  Ibid.,  Section  64:  35-36. 

<  Whitney,  Life  of  Hcber  C.  Kimball,  pp.  196-97.        5  Ibid.,  p.  198. 


84  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

real  sense.  Nor  did  he  imagine  himself  in  their  position  as  Adam  Smith 
would  say.  The  individual  immediately  and  directly  felt  the  sufferings 
of  his  brother.  And  he  did  it  because  he  found  himself  within  the  life 
of  his  brother.  Regarded  from  the  point  of  view  of  group  consciousness, 
Bulter  is  quite  right  when  he  says  " that  we  were  made  for  society"  and 
"that  the  principle  of  benevolence  is  as  natural  in  man  as  is  self-love." 

The  mistake  which  Adam  Smith  made  (and  which  was  also  made  by 
the  moral  sense  school)  is  in  treating  the  individual 's  life  as  distinct  from 
that  of  his  brother.  The  brother  is  regarded  too  much  as  the  other 
person.  Fellow-feeling  is  impossible  toward  individuals  considered  as 
others.  No  power  of  imagination  could  have  created  a  sympathetic 
feeling  between  the  Mormons  and  Gentiles.  This  was  because  the 
behavior  of  the  two  groups  toward  each  other  had  placed  them  in  entirely 
different  spheres.  Sympathy  is  had  only  among  individuals  who  live 
the  same  life,  follow  common  interests,  experience  common  joys  and  sor- 
rows. 

But  Adam  Smith  recognizes  the  dependence  of  sentiments  upon  social 
relations.     He  says: 

Were  it  possible  that  a  human  creature  could  grow  up  to  manhood  in  some 
solitary  place,  without  any  communication  with  his  own  species,  he  could  no 
more  think  of  his  own  character,  of  the  propriety  or  demerit  of  his  own  senti- 
ments and  conduct,  of  the  beauty  or  deformity  of  his  own  mind,  than  of  the 
beauty  or  deformity  of  his  own  face.  All  these  are  objects  which  he  cannot 
easily  see,  ....  and  with  regard  to  which  he  is  provided  with  no  mirror 
which  can  present  them  to  his  view.  Bring  him  into  society,  and  he  is  immedi- 
ately provided  with  the  mirror  which  he  wanted  before.  It  is  placed  in  the 
countenance  and  behavior  of  those  he  lives  with,  which  always  mark  when  they 
enter  into,  and  when  they  disapprove  of  his  sentiments,  and  it  is  here  that  he 
first  sees  the  propriety  of  his  own  passions,  and  the  impropriety,  the  beauty 
and  deformity  of  his  own  mind.1 

But  Adam  Smith  did  not  carry  his  point  far  enough.  Society  is  the 
mirror  through  which  we  see  ourselves  but  it  is  more  than  that:  it  is  in 
society  that  we  actually  find  ourselves.  We  actually  grow  up  in  the  mir- 
ror, and  are  nothing  apart  from  it.  All  human  sentiments  originate  in 
society,  and  by  it  are  maintained  and  given  direction. 

The  sympathetic  feelings  are  highly  relative.  They  depend  upon 
social  affiliation.  An  individual  may  have  a  kindly  feeling  toward  the 
members  of  his  own  group  and  the  greatest  animosity  toward  the  mem- 
bers of  another  group.  In  fact  the  moral  sentiments  are  largely  depend- 
ent upon  group  consciousness.     Altruism,  charity,  benevolence,  pity, 

1  Rand,  The  Classical  Moralists,  p.  456. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  85 

and  all  forms  of  fellow-feeling  are,  according  to  our  observation  of  Mor- 
mon group  life,  essentially  a  matter  of  group  consciousness. 

The  conclusions  of  our  investigation  of  the  early  period  in  Mormon 
history  may  thus  be  briefly  summarized.  In  the  first  place  we  have 
observed  that  the  moral  sentiments  of  the  Mormons  have  developed  out 
of  group  life.  These  sentiments  were  reflected  through  the  God  of  the 
group,  who  took  sides  with  the  oppressed  against  the  oppressors.  Sym- 
pathy toward  the  members  of  the  group  and  animosity  toward  the  mem- 
bers of  the  other  group  grew  side  by  side,  tending  to  show  that  these 
sentiments  mutually  support  each  other.  The  morality  of  this  period 
we  thus  found  to  be  essentially  on  the  level  of  group  morality.  The 
individual's  life  was  almost  completely  immerged  in  that  of  his  group. 
The  great  virtue  was  loyalty  and  the  great  sin  apostasy.  The  moral  self, 
being  so  completely  identified  with  the  group,  is  impulsive,  imitative,  and 
sentimental. 

II 

The  ethics  of  the  second  period  is  made  up  of  the  group  sentiments 
of  the  first  period  and  the  new  moral  values  which  grew  out  of  the  coloniz- 
ing problem  of  the  second  period.  The  moral  standards  are  now  tending 
to  become  more  materialistic  and  more  practical.  The  sermons  are  not 
now  so  much  concerned  with  the  war  between  God  and  the  devil,  between 
Israel  and  Babylon  as  they  are  with  such  subjects  as  obedience  to  author- 
ity, the  strength  of  union,  the  sacredness  of  marriage,  and  the  glory  of  a 
large  posterity,  the  blessings  of  industry  and  the  curse  of  idleness.  The 
good  man  is  now  not  only  loyal  to  the  group  but  efficient  in  its  service. 

The  closing  days  of  the  life  of  Heber  C.  Kimball  were  spent  in 
pioneering  the  new  country.  His  activities  were  typical  of  the  Mormon 
leaders  at  that  time.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  his  life  in  Utah  with 
that  of  Joseph  Smith  and  other  Mormon  leaders  of  the  first  period.  In 
reference  to  his  activity  Apostle  Whitney  writes: 

Preaching,  colonizing,  traveling  through  the  settlements,  encouraging  the 
Saints  in  their  toils  and  sacrifices,  sitting  in  council  among  the  leaders  in  Israel, 
ministering  in  sacred  and  holy  places,  and  otherwise  laboring  for  and  blessing 
the  Lord's  people— so  wore  away  the  remaining  years  of  President  Kimball. 
....  His  name  was  literally  a  "household  word  "in  Israel.  "Brother  Heber" 
was  everywhere  honored  and  beloved.1 

Thus,  in  the  first  period  the  Mormon  prophets  led  the  "hosts  of  Israel" 
against  Babylon ;  they  were  at  constant  war  with  the  enemies  of  God  and 
his  people.     In  the  second  period  the  prophets  of  " Israel"  were  laboring 

1  Life  of  Heber  C.  Kimball,  p.  441. 


86  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

for  and  blessing  the  Saints  and  sitting  in  council  among  their  brethren. 
The  new  problems  had  created  new  demands,  another  class  of  virtue,  a 
new  type  of  prophets. 

The  new  social  and  economic  demands  required  something  more  than 
implicit  faith  in  the  divinity  of  Joseph  Smith's  mission  and  more 
than  mere  loyalty  to  the  group;  it  required  foresight,  direction,  rational 
leadership,  system,  and  organization.  The  leaders  of  the  people  must 
now  prove  their  right  to  lead  by  their  ability  to  serve  their  brethren.  The 
institutions  of  Mormonism  must  prove  their  divinity  by  their  capacity 
to  function.  Thus,  utility  and  efficiency  were  added  to  the  group  senti- 
ments already  established.  The  social  self  is  not  now  merely  the  Mor- 
mon group  fighting  the  gentile  group ;  it  is  the  self  engaged  in  building  up 
a  great  kingdom  and  one  that  is  fully  conscious  of  its  detailed  demands 
such  as  the  constructing  of  roads,  canals,  forts,  planting  colonies,  raising 
large  families  and  going  on  missions.  The  moral  individual  is  one  who  is 
willing  to  join  in  these  many  enterprises,  who  is  industrious,  unselfish, 
and  possesses  the  ability  to  serve  the  community  in  realizing  its  aims. 

The  moral  ideals  and  principles  of  social  control,  we  shall  see,  were 
influenced  by  the  problem  then  confronting  the  group.  The  great  prob- 
lem was  to  establish  Zion  in  the  mountains,  to  build  up  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  And  this,  as  we  have  observed  in  Part  II,  was  more  than  a  mere 
spiritual  ideal,  it  was  a  very  real  task  which  the  new  condition  had 
imposed  upon  the  people.  To  realize  it,  meant  life  to  the  community 
and  to  fail,  meant  death  and  destruction.  There  were  three  ways  in 
which  the  individual  might  serve  his  community  in  realizing  this  end: 
(i)  as  a  colonizer,  i.e.,  one  who  was  efficient  in  any  sort  of  economic  com- 
munity enterprise;  (2)  as  a  missionary  to  carry  on  the  great  proselyting 
program  so  essential  in  developing  a  strong  population;  and  (3)  as  a 
patriarch,  the  head  of  a  large  family. 

1.  The  colonization  program  embraced  every  line  of  economic  activ- 
ity and  consequently  every  man,  woman,  and  child  capable  of  doing 
any  kind  of  labor  was  actively  engaged  in  this  enterprise.  The  whole 
undertaking  being  essentially  a  community  affair  was  conducted  under 
the  supervision  of  the  priesthood.  Thus,  besides  being  industrious  and 
socially  efficient,  the  individual  must  obey  the  authority  of  the  priest- 
hood. This  relationship  is  clearly  revealed  in  an  extract  from  a  letter 
written  by  President  Heber  C.  Kimball,  to  his  son  then  on  a  mission 
to  England.     The  letter  was  dated  February,  1856. 

There  has  been  court  in  session  here  for  weeks  and  weeks  and  I  suppose 
that  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  of  the  brethren  have  been  hanging 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  87 

around,  with  the  council  house  filled  to  the  brim.  This  scenery  continuing  for 
a  long  time,  one  day  Brother  Brigham  sent  Thomas  Bullock  to  take  their  names, 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  them  missions,  if  they  had  not  anything  to  do  of  any 
more  importance.  So  Brother  Brigham  counseled  me  to  make  a  selection — 
for  Los  Vegas,  some  thirty,  who  are  ordered  to  sell  their  possessions  and  go 
with  their  families  as  soon  as  the  weather  will  permit,  for  the  purpose  of  going 
down  on  to  the  Rio  Virgin  to  raise  cotton;  another  company  of  forty-eight  to 
go  to  Green  River  to  strengthen  up  that  settlement,  make  farms,  build  mills, 
etc.,  and  some  thirty -five  or  forty  to  go  north  to  Salmon  River,  ....  some 
thirty  to  go  to  Carson  Valley,  ....  some  thirty  to  go  into  the  lead  business 
near  the  Los  Vegas;  and  eight  to  go  to  the  East  Indies.  There  are  eighteen 
called  to  Europe,  and  seven  to  Australia.1 

This  right  which  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  held  over  those  of  lower 
rank  in  all  matters  of  community  concern  is  very  significant.  Although 
a  strong  group  spirit  had  been  created  long  before  this  and  although 
people  had  been  disciplined  in  obedience  to  group  authority  before  they 
undertook  colonization  in  the  mountain  valleys,  yet  the  unity  of  action 
prior  to  this  time  was  that  of  direct  group  control.  A  strong  group 
spirit  was  felt  by  every  individual.  The  constant  pressure  from  an  oppos- 
ing group  made  the  members  within  the  Mormon  group  very  sensitive 
to  social  suggestions.  But  this  warm,  first-hand  spiritual  control  was  not 
possible  in  the  new  situation  where  the  external  social  pressure  had  been 
practically  removed  and  where  the  communities  were  scattered  among 
the  valleys  of  the  great  mountainous  country.  The  control  must  now 
become  more  a  matter  of  personal  authority. 

But  although  the  control  now  became  centered  in  individuals  who 
held  the  priesthood  there  was  still  a  recognition  of  the  group  back  of  this 
priestly  authority.  The  priesthood  is  the  authority  of  God  and  sym- 
bolizes the  authority  and  power  of  the  group.  By  means  of  this  symbol 
and  the  recognition  which  it  received,  the  colonizing  enterprises  could 
be  systematically  carried  on.  But  for  the  leader  in  this  period  priest- 
hood alone  was  not  sufficient;  the  situation,  without  minimizing  the 
importance  of  the  former,  demanded  ability  also.  And  in  this  respect 
the  demand  is  greater  than  that  of  both  the  first  and  third  periods.  The 
economic  situation  was  too  grave  for  a  man  who  was  not  efficient  and 
useful  to  the  people  to  remain  long  at  the  head  of  a  colony.  The  people 
were  now  conscious  of  the  purpose  of  leadership,  and  the  successful 
pioneer  could  command  obedience  because  he  actually  became  a  hero  in 
the  great  struggle. 

1  Life  of  Heber  C.  Kimball,  pp.  420-21. 


88  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

But  not  only  did  the  colonizing  problem  create  a  new  relation  between 
the  people  and  the  priesthood,  it  created  a  new  attitude  within  the  group, 
of  the  individuals  toward  one  another.  The  brotherly  feeling  was  now 
developed  on  a  utilitarian  basis.  The  brother  was  needed  in  the  building 
of  canals,  roads,  and  forts.  The  manufacturing  and  commercial  activi- 
ties demanded  united  effort.  On  every  hand  the  individual  found  him- 
self compelled  to  co-operate  with  his  brethren.  This  co-operative  effort 
was  felt  to  be  so  important  that  many  of  the  colonizing  enterprises  were 
preceded  by  a  rebaptism  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  "the  new  colony 
under  perfect  organization,  socially  as  well  as  ecclesiastically."1  Out 
of  this  practical  co-operative  relationship,  this  common  struggle  to  build 
up  their  Zion,  we  have  a  moral  relation  of  a  higher  order  than  that  which 
maintained  in  early  Mormon  history.  The  moral  sentiments  developed 
out  of  a  more  practical  and  more  normal  social  relation.  The  self  en- 
larged to  include  others  in  a  more  complex  system  of  values.  John 
Stuart  Mill's  explanation  of  moral  sympathy  is  quite  adequate  here: 

Not  only  does  strengthening  of  social  ties,  and  all  healthy  growth  of  society , 
give  to  each  individual  a  stronger  personal  interest  in  practically  consulting  the 
welfare  of  others,  it  also  leads  him  to  identify  his  feelings  more  and  more  with 
their  good He  comes,  as  though  instinctively,  to  be  conscious  of  him- 
self as  a  being  who  of  course  pays  regard  to  others.  The  good  of  others  becomes 
to  him  a  thing  naturally  and  necessarily  to  be  attended  to.  like  any  of  the 
physical  conditions  of  our  existence.-' 

2.  Just  as  every  good  man  in  Israel  was  an  active  colonizer  at  that 
time,  so  every  man  was  expected  to  fulfil  a  foreign  mission.  In  fact 
proselyting  was  a  part  of  the  colonizing  scheme.  The  following  taken 
from  the  official  organ  of  the  church  (1851)  illustrates  how  the  colonizing 
and  the  proselyting  work  of  the  church  went  hand  in  hand. 

The  estimated  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants  in  Deseret,  the  past  year,  have 
raised  grain  sufficient  to  sustain  the  thirty  thousand  for  the  coming  year,  inspire 
us  confidently  to  believe  that  the  thirty  thousand  the  coming  year  can  raise 
sufficient  for  sixty  thousand  the  succeeding  year  and  to  this  great  object  and 
end  our  energies  will  be  exerted  to  double  our  population  annually 3 

Thus  we  may  note,  besides  the  hopeful  spirit  which  is  here  revealed  con- 
cerning the  growth  of  Zion,  the  unity  of  purpose  which  underlies  both 
the  colonizing  and  the  missionary  work.  It  was  regarded  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  the  Saints  at  home  should  prepare  to  feed  and  care  for  the 
thousands  who  were  to  immigrate  every  year.     Brigham  Young  said: 

1  Tullidge's  Magazine,  III  (July,  1884),  233. 

2  Quoted  by  Rand,  The  Classical  Moralists,  pp.  666-67. 
J  Millenial  Star,  XIII  (1851),  51. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  89 

It  is  also  a  true  principle  that  a  man  should  keep  not  only  his  property 
but  himself  upon  the  altar,  ready  for  sacrifice  at  any  moment;  to  do  with  all 
his  might  the  will  of  his  maker  regardless  of  the  consequences  to  his  property  or 
himself  or  any  thing  that  pertains  to  him.1 

But  not  only  were  the  missionaries  expected  to  increase  the  Mormon 
population  but  they  were  to  furnish  the  community  with  skilled  mechanics. 
In  a  later  volume  of  the  same  paper  we  read  the  following  instructions 
from  the  mission  president  to  the  conference  presidents: 

The  first  presidency  of  the  church  at  the  Valley  has  sent  express  instruction 

in  relation  to  all  kinds  of  mechanics  and  manufacturers And  now  is  the 

time  that  they  are  wanted,  for  they  are  situated  at  a  vast  distance  from  all 

civilized  nations  of  the  earth In  order  that  we  may  become  great  and 

flourish  as  a  people,  it  is  highly  necessary  that  we  have  manufacturers  in  our 
own  midst 2 

Thus  in  regard  to  this  stage  of  Mormon  ethics  Hume  is  right  when 
he  says:  "The  social  virtues  are  never  regarded  without  their  beneficial 
tendencies,  nor  viewed  as  barren  and  unfruitful"  and  that  "utility  .  .  .  . 
forms,  at  least,  a  part  of  their  merit,  and  is  one  source  of  that  approba- 
tion and  regard  so  universally  paid  to  them."-'  The  sentiments  created 
by  the  group  struggle  of  the  first  period  were  not  weakened  by  the  con- 
ception of  utility  which  the  second  period  in  Mormon  history  tended  to 
develop.  The  brotherly  feeling  now  received  meaning.  It  was  now 
consciously  desired.  It  becomes  a  real  standard  which  the  individual 
endeavors  to  attain  himself  and  which  he  requires  of  his  associates. 

3.  The  control  of  sex  relationship  has  always  constituted  one  of  the 
most  important  moral  problems  of  the  race.  Social  customs  have  always 
served  as  the  strongest  factor  in  this  as  in  every  other  vital  social  moral 
relation.  Monogamy  has,  through  ages  of  social  evolution,  come  to  be 
the  form  of  sex  relation  generally  adhered  to  among  different  peoples. 
While  individuals  among  civilized  as  well  as  among  primitive  peoples,  at 
times,  violate  the  social  customs  it  is  very  extraordinary  for  an  entire 
people  to  depart  arbitrarily  from  the  established  form  of  marriage  rela- 
tions. Especially  is  it  surprising  for  a  church  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bility in  the  Christian  era  when  sex  purity  and  celibacy  were  regarded 
as  among  the  greatest  virtues.  Our  problem  here  is  to  explain  how  the 
Mormon  mind  could  be  brought  to  justify  morally  the  institution  of 
polygamy  or  the  patriarchal  form  of  marriage. 

1  Brigham  Young,  ibid.,  XIV,  214. 

2  Ibid.,  XVI,  362. 

3  Quoted  by  Rand,  The  Classical  Moralists,  p.  431. 


90  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

If  moral  values  existed  apart  from  the  life  of  the  social  group  or  if 
they  were  the  outcome  of  pure  reflective  processes  it  would  be  a  difficult 
task  indeed  to  account  for  this  radical  departure  from  general  social 
sanction.  But  when  we  apply  our  principle  that  moral  values  are  really 
group  sentiments  and  that  they  depend  on  the  one  hand  upon  group  tra- 
dition and  on  the  other  hand  upon  the  immediate  vital  problems  of  the 
group  the  explanation  is  not  difficult. 

The  Mormons,  we  have  seen,  had  identified  themselves  with  ancient 
Israel.  The  sentiments  and  traditions  of  that  ancient  people  became 
the  sentiments  and  traditions  of  Mormonism.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Mormons  had  almost  completely  isolated  themselves  both  socially  and 
physically  from  all  civilized  peoples.  They  lived  in  a  different  atmos- 
sphere  from  that  of  the  peoples  of  the  world.  The  sentiments  of  "  Baby- 
lon" were  not  to  control  their  lives.  They  hated  Babylon  and  any 
departure  from  its  ways  was  regarded  by  them  as  righteousness.  But 
they  loved  Israel  and  longed  to  imitate  its  institutions.  Thus  they  con- 
sidered polygamy,  which  was  of  Israel,  more  sacred  than  monogamv 
which  was  the  common  practice  of  the  rebellious  world. 

But  polygamy  was  also  justified  on  the  basis  of  utility.  The  patriar- 
chal order  tended  to  increase  the  Mormon  population  and  thus  added 
strength  to  the  kingdom.  Brigham  Young,  Heber  C.  Kimball,  Orson 
Pratt,  Lorin  Farr,  and  scores  of  other  patriarchs1  who  had  no  fewer  than 
forty  and  some  even  more  than  sixty  children  were  the  great  men  of  Israel. 
Should  this  system  have  continued  and  should  the  members  of  the  church 
have  followed  generally  the  example  of  their  leaders,  Zion  would  soon 
have  felt  its  strength  through  its  growing  population.  This  was  no  doubt 
the  motive  which  led  President  Woodruff  to  remark  that  the  "church 
and  Kingdom  could  not  advance  without  it"  and  that  "the  leading  men 
of  Israel  who  are  presiding  over  stakes  will  have  to  obey  the  law  of 
Abraham"  or  resign.2 

The  moral  self  thus  became  identified  with  the  new  and  more  complex 
aims  of  the  group.  Sentiments  grew  up  about  these  interests  until  they 
became  sacred  and,  as  we  shall  see  in  our  next  division,  fixed  attitudes  of 
mind.  Thus,  to  the  old  group  sentiments  of  the  first  period  which  formed 
the  subconscious  basis  of  the  Mormon  ethical  life,  we  have  added  utili- 
tarian ideals  and  standards,  all  of  which  are  transmitted  to  the  third 
period. 

1  Whitney,  History  of  Utah,  Vol.  IV. 

2  Cowley's  Life  of  Wilford  Woodruff,  p.  542. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  91 

III 

The  transition  from  the  second  to  the  third  stage  of  Mormonism  is 
marked  by  two  important  conditions,  the  coming  to  a  close  of  the  great 
colonization  movement  and  the  abandonment  of  the  patriarchal  order  of 
marriage.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  deprived  of 
its  real,  concrete,  and  material  content  and  began  to  be  defined  more  in 
terms  of  a  church  organization  and  spiritual  authority.  The  New  Jeru- 
salem was  still  the  sochl  ideal  but  no  longer  a  city  to  be  built  immediately 
in  this  world  but  one  which  Christ  will  build  when  he  returns  to  earth. 
The  material  aims  tended  to  become  spiritual  ideals. 

Heretofore  very  slight  distinction  was  made  between  the  spiritual 
and  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  church.  They  all  belonged  to  the  King- 
dom of  God  and  the  church  claimed  the  right  to  exercise  its  authority  in 
any  direction.  But  when  sufficient  private  capital  had  accumulated  and 
the  individuals  began  to  feel  their  own  strength  and  could  undertake 
business  enterprises  without  the  aid  of  the  church  its  influence  in  eco- 
nomic matters  began  to  decline.  The  state  began  to  assume  greater 
responsibility  and  was  becoming  stronger  in  all  lines  of  general  com- 
munity interest.  The  individuals  were  beginning  to  assert  themselves 
through  the  institutions  of  the  state.  The  church  was  forced  to  confine 
its  activities  to  that  sphere  in  which  the  older  group  sentiments  still  hold 
sway.  Its  sphere  was  becoming  less  temporal  and  more  spiritual.  Its 
attention  was  being  turned  to  its  traditions,  and  its  function  was  becom- 
ing more  and  more  that  of  conserving  its  institutions  and  group  senti- 
ments. 

This  new  situation  has  put  the  church  on  the  defensive.  Its  problem 
now  is  to  protect  its  own  sentiments  and  institutions  and  to  defend  the 
faith.  The  good  man  now  is  a  staunch  defender  of  the  institutions  and 
true  to  the  faith.  The  following  hymn  reveals  the  sentiments  which 
the  orthodox  members  are  struggling  to  establish  among  the  youth : 

Shall  the  youth  of  Zion  falter, 

In  defending  truth  and  right  ? 
While  the  enemy  assaileth, 

Shall  we  shrink,  or  shun  the  fight  ?     No! 

True  to  the  faith  that  our  parents  have  cherished; 

True  to  the  truth  for  which  martyrs  have  perished ; 
To  God's  command,  soul,  heart,  and  hand, 

Faithful  and  true  we  will  ever  stand.1 

1  Songs  of  Zion,  No.  179. 


92  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

Just  as  the  foregoing  hymn  illustrates  the  stress  that  is  placed  on  old 
sentiments  so  the  following  statement  from  a  recent  sermon  illustrates 
the  attention  that  is  now  given  to  laws,  form,  and  institutions. 

God  has  given  unto  his  children  a  code  of  laws:  faith,  repentance,  and 
baptism  by  immersion  for  the  remission  of  sins,  by  those  who  have  authority, 
to  administer  in  the  ordinances  of  his  kingdom,  the  laying  on  of  hands  for  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  law  of  tithing,  the  law  of  consecration,  the  law  of 
sealing  ordinances  in  the  house  wherein  man  and  woman  are  sealed  for  time 
and  all  eternity,  and  all  the  various  cardinal  principles  of  the  gospel.  These 
are  the  laws  of  our  being,  unto  which  we  must  subscribe  if  we  would  inherit 
the  earth  when  it  has  lived  its  laws,  that  we  may  live  upon  it  many,  many  years.1 

Of  these  "cardinal  principles"  faith  is  the  most  basic.  It  is  the 
sacred  duty  of  every  member  of  the  church  to  believe  implicitly  in  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith,  in  the 
authenticity  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  in  miracles  and  spiritual  gifts.  He 
must  believe  in  the  divinity  of  the  priesthood  and  in  the  idea  that  all 
the  organizations  of  the  church  are  sacred  institutions  established  by  God. 
He  must  accept  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  Bible.  The  man  who 
does  not  have  this  state  of  mind  is  not  a  good  man  in  a  positive  sense. 
Morality  without  faith  is  negative  and  does  not  lead  to  the  highest 
spiritual  life.  Faith  means  spirituality  "and  without  spirituality  there 
can  be  no  vital  living  morality." 

The  following  brief  statements  made  by  church  authorities  in  the 
recent  general  conferences  illustrate  the  importance  that  is  now  attached 
to  faith.  According  to  C.  W.  Nibley  the  mission  of  Mormonism  is  to 
protect  the  faith. 

Now  here  is  the  mission  of  Mormonism.  Here  is  the  great  need  of  this 
church,  that  faith  shall  not  be  abolished  from  the  earth,  from  the  hearts  of  the 

children  of  men We  believe  in  education,  but  some  of  us  send  our 

children  away  from  home  to  be  educated,  and  many  of  them  come  back  seem- 
ingly determined  to  claim  relationship  with  the  apes  rather  than  with  angels.2 

According  to  Reed  Smoot,  Christianity  is  endangered  by  heresy. 

I  care  not  for  the  cranks  that  may  arise  from  time  to  time,  for  their  lives 
are  short;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  when  a  man  like  Dr.  Charles  Eliot ....  comes 
out  and  announces  as  a  new  doctrine  a  faith  that  denies  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  denies  that  man  is  made  in  God 's  image,  that  denies  the  authen- 
ticity of  all  biblical  miracles,  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  the  supernatural  value  of 
sacrament,  the  merit  of  self-sacrifice,  and  even  denies  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  it  strikes  me  ....  that  there  is  danger  for  Christianity  among  the  people.3 

1  W.  H.  Smart,  Eighty-seventh  Annual  Conference  Report,  pp.  Q5-96. 

2  Eighty- first  Annual  Conference  Report,  pp.  54-55. 

3  General  Conference  Report  for  iqoq. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  93 

Faith  is  worth  more  than  life  according  to  Joseph  F.  Smith: 

Every  device  possible  to  the  understanding  and  ingenuity  of  cunning  men 
is  being  used  for  the  purpose  of  diverting  our  children  from  the  faith  of  the 
gospel  and  from  the  love  of  truth I  would  rather  take  one  of  my  chil- 
dren to  the  grave  than  I  would  see  him  turn  away  from  this  gospel.1 

This  defensive  attitude  of  the  orthodox  Mormons  reflects  the  present 
conflict.  Faith  in  church  dogma  has  become  a  moral  value  which  has 
grown  out  of  the  present  social  situation.  It  is  the  great  virtue  of  today 
just  as  loyalty  was  the  great  virtue  in  the  first  period,  or  efficiency  and 
industry  in  the  second  period  of  Mormon  history. 

To  honor  the  priesthood  in  the  pioneer  days  meant  to  obey  those  who 
were  endowed  with  its  authority.  But  high  priestly  authority  and  capa- 
city for  leadship  usually  went  together.  In  fact  the  priesthood  in- 
creased its  power  and  sanctity  through  the  social  service  which  it  rendered. 
It  possessed  utility  and  could  command  obedience  because  of  it.  To 
honor  the  priesthood  in  recent  years  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  obeying  it 
for  the  purpose  of  realizing  a  material  benefit  as  it  is  to  recognize  its 
divinity  and  refrain  from  criticizing  and  speaking  ill  against  the  "Lord's 
Anointed."  This  attitude  toward  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  like 
the  attitude  toward  faith  has  grown  out  of  internal  conditions.  It 
results  from  the  growing  critical  spirit  among  the  younger  members  of 
the  church.  The  orthodox  element  feels  a  need  for  putting  itself  on  the 
defense.     Thus  says  Joseph  F.  Smith: 

Fathers  and  mothers  in  Israel,  will  you  try  to  teach  your  children  .... 
that  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  restored  again  to  the  earth  the  priesthood  which 
was  held  by  Peter,  James,  and  John.     Teach  your  children  to  respect  their 

bishops  and  the  teachers  that  come  to  their  homes  to  teach  them teach 

them  to  honor  the  priesthood  which  you  hold.2 

As  the  controlling  power  of  the  group  weakens,  the  priestly  authority 
becomes  less  positive.  Thus  Brigham  Young  could  command  when  the 
prophet  of  today  may  only  advise  and  counsel.  Brigham  Young  could 
exercise  the  authority  of  the  priesthood  in  nearly  every  line  of  com- 
munity or  individual  interests.  The  present  leader  must  confine  the 
exercise  of  his  priestly  influence  within  certain  limits.  These  limits  are 
fixed  by  group  sentiments.  When  he  extends  his  activity  into  political 
and  industrial  affairs  he  meets  with  opposition  from  those  who  do  not 
feel  the  old  group  sentiments.     Only  the  older  members  of  the  church 

1  General  Conference,  1909,  pp.  2-8. 

1  Eighty-seventh  Annual  Conference  Report,  p.  5. 


94  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

recognize  the  voice  of  a  prophet  in  these  matters.  The  following  remark 
of  Apostle  Talmage  illustrates  the  situation  and  the  struggle  which  the 
church  leaders  are  having  to  maintain  the  desired  attitude  toward  the 
prophet: 

I  have  met  here  and  there  a  disgruntled  one,  one  who  is  saying,"  Why  don 't 
we  receive  further  revelation  from  God  today  ?  "  We  are  receiving  it  day  by 
day If  ever  the  church  of  Christ  was  led  by  a  prophet  enjoying  com- 
munion with  God  ....  and  none  of  us  can  doubt  such  leadership  in  the  past 
— this  day  witnesses  that  condition.  I  testify  unto  you  that  the  man  who 
stands  at  the  head  of  this  church  is  the  mouth  piece  of  God  unto  his  people,  and 
if  we  fail  to  heed  his  words,  his  admonitions,  his  instruction  given  unto  us  as  they 
have  been,  and  are,  in  love  and  nevertheless  with  firmness  and  with  no  uncer- 
tainty of  tone,  we  bring  ourselves  under  condemnation.1 

Again,  since  the  priesthood  represents  the  authority  of  the  group  and 
since  the  power  of  this  authority  depends  upon  the  traditional  attitudes 
and  old  group  sentiments,  the  field  of  its  activity  tends  to  be  limited 
largely  to  the  preservation  of  forms  and  sentiments  already  established. 
Thus,  unlike  conditions  in  the  colonizing  period  when  the  initiative  was 
taken  by  the  higher  church  authorities,  today  the  social  reform  move- 
ments in  Mormon  communities  are  undertaken  by  the  younger  men  and 
women,  who  hold  subordinate  positions  in  the  church. 

Thus,  out  of  active,  enthusiastic,  and  practical  group  sentiments  has 
emerged  a  system  of  formal  laws  or  duties.  What  were  once  means  to 
an  end  have  now  become  ends  in  themselves.  Tithing  was  once  a  means 
to  the  building  up  of  God 's  kingdom  but  now  it  is  a  duty  to  pay  tithing 
whether  the  church  needs  the  money  or  not.  It  is  a  duty  for  a  man  to  go 
on  a  mission  when  called  by  the  divine  authority  although  he  may  ques- 
tion his  qualifications  to  preach  the  gospel.  It  is  his  duty  to  have  faith 
in  all  the  doctrines  of  Mormonism  although  his  experience  may  lead  him 
to  doubt  the  validity  of  some  of  them. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  review  the  evolution  of  Mormon  ethics  with 
reference  to  our  three  basic  psychological  principles.  In  the  first  place 
we  have  observed  that  the  moral  self  was  identical  with  the  social  or 
group  self.  In  the  first  stage  the  self  was  completely  merged  in  the  group. 
The  moral  life  was  therefore  relatively  simple,  to  be  loyal  to  "Israel" 
and  remain  responsive  to  the  suggestions  of  the  group.  In  the  second 
period,  the  group  developed  more  complex  aims.  The  moral  self  became 
more  reflective  and  less  impulsive.  The  individual  was  now  able  to 
distinguish  between  his  social  self  and  his  egoistic  self.  In  the  third 
stage  the  social  self  is  identified  with  the  traditional  and  customary  atti- 

1  Eighty-eighth  Annual  Conference  Report,  p.  161. 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  95 

tudes  of  the  group.  The  moral  self  is  now  one  who  keeps  the  faith  and 
observes  the  laws  and  forms  of  the  church. 

Altruism  and  egotism  are  thus  found  to  be  relative  matters.  In  the 
early  group  conflict  the  Mormon  people  were  egotistic  in  their  relations 
with  the  opposite  group  but  very  altruistic  in  dealing  with  one  another. 
However,  not  until  the  economic  problems  of  the  second  period  presented 
themselves  did  the  people  become  fully  conscious  of  this  as  a  moral  prin- 
ciple. It  was  the  removal  of  the  external  social  pressure  and  the  con- 
centration of  attention  upon  the  group 's  own  welfare  which  made  it  pos- 
sible for  the  individuals  to  recognize  a  moral  obligation  as  such.  But 
even  in  the  second  period  moral  obligation  did  not  often  extend  beyond 
the  members  of  the  group.  However,  in  the  third  stage,  the  growing 
commercial,  political,  and  educational  intercourse  with  the  outside 
world  is  having  the  effect  of  extending  sympathetic  relations  and  a  sense 
of  obligation  to  people  outside  of  the  group. 

As  to  our  second  proposition,  we  have  observed  that  the  moral  evolu- 
tion was  essentially  an  evolution  of  sentiments.  The  early  group  life  was 
impulsive  and  emotional  and  out  of  this  developed  the  most  basic  and 
permanent  Mormon  sentiments.  These  sentiments  became  definitely 
attached  to  certain  persons,  institutions,  and  events.  In  the  second 
period  other  sentiments  developed,  peculiar  to  the  pioneer  life.  All  these 
sentiments  have  accumulated  and  represent  in  the  third  period  very 
definite  and  fixed  attitudes.  The  orthodox  Mormon  has  always  found 
morality  on  the  side  of  these  sentiments,  and  associated  immorality  with 
the  spirit  and  life  which  has  opposed  them. 

But  these  group  sentiments,  as  we  have  observed,  are  well  personified 
in  the  God  of  Israel.  This  personification  has  made  the  transition  from 
one  stage  of  Mormon  moral  standards  to  another  more  obvious.  Thus, 
in  the  first  stage,  God  was  engaged  in  protecting  his  "chosen  people" 
and  punishing  the  "rebellious."  Under  His  special  direction  the  Saints 
were  led  in  battle  against  the  devil  and  his  followers.  The  true  servant 
of  God  at  that  time  was  one  who  was  loyal  and  submissive  to  the  will  of 
God.  In  the  second  period,  God  became  the  deliverer  of  Israel  from 
the  persecution  of  the  enemy.  He  led  his  people  to  a  land  of  refuge. 
He  made  their  land  productive  and  increased  their  storehouses.  He 
assigned  his  people  a  practical  task,  to  build  up  his  kingdom.  An  effi- 
cient servant  was  rewarded  with  a  home  in  Zion,  with  a  large  family  and 
with  flocks  and  herds.  In  the  third  period,  God  has  become  a  law  giver 
to  his  people  and  a  defender  of  his  priesthood  and  the  sacred  institutions 
of  the  group.  The  reward  for  righteousness  is  now  spiritual ;  it  is  salva- 
tion  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 


96  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  POSSIBILITIES  FOR  ADJUSTMENT 

From  the  practical  point  of  view  the  outcome  of  the  present  internal 
conflict  is  a  most  vital  question.  The  maladjustment  which  existed 
between  the  Mormons  and  the  Gentiles  is  practically  overcome,  and  so 
is  that  between  the  Mormons  and  the  arid  country.  We  have  observed 
the  strife  between  science  and  Mormon  theology,  the  contradiction 
between  the  business  interest  of  the  priesthood  and  the  spirit  of  industrial 
democracy,  we  have  observed  the  contentions  occasioned  by  the  Mormon 
marriage  institutions  and  finally  traced  the  development  of  Mormon 
ethical  ideals  and  standards.  In  treating  these  problems  we  have  been 
concerned  more  with  the  interpretation  of  the  different  factors  involved 
in  the  conflict  than  with  the  social  value  of  the  process  itself.  What  will 
these  tendencies  lead  to,  and  of  what  practical  value  are  they  to  the 
group?    These  are  questions  deserving  attention. 

The  dogmatic  opponent  of  Mormonism  regards  all  of  its  institutions 
as  positively  bad  and  as  directly  hindering  progress.  To  him  the  solution 
of  the  problem  is  the  elimination  of  all  that  is  Mormon.  The  orthodox 
Mormon,  on  the  other  hand,  believes  that  all  the  institutions  of  his 
church  are  divine  and  essential  to  the  great  plan  of  human  salvation.  His 
solution  of  the  problem  is  the  silencing  of  critics  and  heretics.  The  ideal 
situation,  in  his  mind,  is  for  every  member  of  the  church  to  accept  with 
implicit  faith  every  word  that  falls  from  the  lips  of  the  prophet  and  obey 
unhesitatingly  the  authority  of  the  priesthood.  Or  as  one  of  the  apostles 
of  the  church  expressed  it:  "I  would  that  the  faith  of  all  Israel  increased 
to  the  point  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  would  say,  '  I  know  not 
save  the  Lord  commandeth. '  "  To  the  unprejudiced  mind  neither  of 
these  attitudes  points  the  way  to  progress. 

Conflict  is  neither  bad  nor  good  in  itself.  It  may  result  in  destruc- 
tion or  it  may  be  the  condition  for  progressive  reconstruction.  The 
internal  conflict  simply  reveals  the  fact  that  a  crisis  has  come  and  a  change 
is  about  to  take  place.  This  change  may  destroy  the  group  life  or  it  may 
strengthen  it.  The  crisis  is  a  warning  of  approaching  danger  and  an 
opportunity  for  progress.  Without  it  Mormon  religious  life  would  be 
reduced  to  a  dead  level.  Such  is  the  case  in  some  of  the  rural  communi- 
ties where  the  new  critical  spirit  has  not  yet  expressed  itself.     In  such 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  97 

places  religious  discussion  consists  largely  of  repeating  religious  dogma, 
retelling  the  old  Mormon  and  gentile  struggles  and  relating  the  experi- 
ences of  the  pioneers.  Even  in  some  of  the  general  conferences  of  the 
church  in  Salt  Lake  City,  the  sameness  of  thought  and  expression  becomes 
so  monotonous  that  the  most  sympathetic  member  indicates  weariness. 
But  the  majority  of  the  people  favor  harmony  rather  than  discord  for 
the  former  is  the  true  spirit  of  the  gospel,  but  confusion  is  prompted  by 
the  devil. 

The  proper  adjustment  is  not  to  be  brought  about  by  prohibiting 
criticism  nor  can  it  be  made  by  eliminating  wholly  the  old  institutions 
and  traditions.  Criticism  provides  the  occasion  for  readjustment  and 
progress.  On  the  other  hand  institutions  and  traditions  tend  to  retain 
the  social  standards  already  established  and  give  stability  to  the  life 
of  the  community.  They  function  in  the  life  of  the  community  just  as 
habits  do  in  the  individual.  They  form  the  automatic  side  of  conduct, 
maintain  unity  and  order  among  the  basic  relations  of  life,  and  thus  set 
free  the  voluntary  elements  of  consciousness  to  work  out  new  modes  of 
behavior.  They  constitute  fundamental  factors  in  the  control  of  the 
individual  life  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  social  group.  Progress  may  build 
more  certain  attainments  by  utilizing  these  historical  accumulations  than 
by  ignoring  them.  The  reason  why  many  social  revolutions  have  failed 
to  realize  very  valuable  aims  is  because  the  basic  factors  of  social  control 
were  disregarded.  No  effective  reconstruction  in  Mormonism  will  be 
had  unless  its  sentiments  and  institutions  are  turned  to  good  account. 
Real  progress  presupposes  proper  social  continuity. 

To  overcome  the  present  maladjustment  two  concessions  must  be 
made.  On  the  one  hand  every  institution  of  Mormonism  must  be  sub- 
jected to  the  searchlight  of  science,  and  scientific  truths,  in  so  far  as  they 
provide  human  welfare,  must  be  considered  as  sacred  as  religious  truths. 
On  the  other  hand  the  educators  of  Utah  must  be  willing  to  analyze  the 
Mormon  institutions  with  the  true  impartial  attitude  and  recognize  the 
desirable  as  well  as  the  undesirable  qualities.  In  short,  prejudice  must 
be  removed  from  both  sides  before  real  progress  can  be  attained.  The 
ideal  situation  will  be  more  fully  realized  when  the  church  will  make  more 
frequent  use  of  scientific  experts  to  aid  in  its  many  educational  enter- 
prises, and  when  the  college  graduate  will  regard  the  church,  of  which  he  is 
a  member,  as  an  organization  through  which  he  can  render  social  and 
moral  service. 

We  have  already  discussed  in  different  connections  the  importance 
of  attention  in  determining  the  various  aspects  of  the  spiritual  life  of 


98  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

Mormonism.  We  have  observed  how  the  strong  concentration  of  group 
attention  added  divinity  to  the  leaders,  magnified  the  importance  of  his- 
torical events  and  places  and  how,  through  this  factor,  institutions  became 
sacred.  A  long  history  of  such  centralized  group  consciousness  accom- 
panied by  great  emotional  excitement  has  created  strong  Mormon 
sentiments  toward  the  past  and  its  accumulations  of  institutions  so  that 
it  is  difficult  to  direct  attention  upon  present-day  problems.  Many  of 
the  Mormons  seem  to  live  by  themselves  in  a  world  constructed  out  of 
their  past  group  life,  a  distinct  world  of  discourse. 

In  addition  to  this  group  sentiment  which  directs  attention  toward 
the  past  there  is  a  sort  of  Mormon  scholasticism  which  has,  in  recent 
years,  engaged  the  attention  of  some  of  the  educated  members  of  the 
church.  It  has  one  purpose — that  of  justifying  the  Mormon  dogmas. 
This  peculiar  rationalizing  tendency  has  developed  side  by  side  with 
heresy  which  it  is  constantly  endeavoring  to  silence  by  argument. 
Besides  a  large  number  of  books  written  with  this  aim,  the  church  theo- 
logical classes  are  making  use  of  this  line  of  reasoning.  The  old  institu- 
tions and  traditions  are  thus  fortified  on  the  one  hand  by  sentiment  and 
on  the  other  by  a  well-developed  system  of  theology. 

Opposed  to  these  conservative  Mormon  theologians  stand  those 
who  are  effectively  bringing  about  a  readjustment  in  both  thought  and 
sentiment.  These  people  do  not  present  direct  opposition.  They  tend 
to  shift  the  attention  to  the  more  vital  problems  of  the  day.  They 
emphasize  the  present  rather  than  the  past,  the  immediate  rather  than  the 
remote,  the  concrete  rather  than  the  abstract. 

Among  the  most  important  of  the  conditions  that  tend  to  bring  about 
readjustment  is  the  rapid  growth  of  colleges  and  high  schools  in  the  state 
as  well  as  a  tendency  for  a  large  number  of  young  people  to  seek  education 
outside  of  the  state.  Between  four  and  five  thousand  young  people  of 
Mormon  parentage  are  attending  college  every  year  and  many  times  that 
number  are  in  high  schools.  They  are  thus  coming  in  contact  with  the 
educational  spirit  and  developing  a  great  many  new  ideals  and  values. 
The  many  possibilities  of  the  larger  life,  social  and  scientific,  are  being 
forced  upon  them.  These  new  interests  are  not  regarded  as  antagonistic 
to  the  Mormon  ideals,  but  little  by  little  they  detract  the  attention  from 
creed  and  abstract  theology. 

The  lines  of  educational  interest  which  most  directly  influence  this 
reconstruction  are  those  of  the  social  sciences.  Courses  in  sociology, 
economics,  political  science,  ethics  of  citizenship,  social  psychology,  the 
psychology  of  religion  and  the  scientific  study  of  the  Bible  are  all  related 


OF  MORMON  GROUP  LIFE  99 

directly  to  the  local  problem.  Unlike  some  other  scientific  courses  these 
not  only  raise  the  problems  of  interest  and  detract  attention  from  the  non- 
essentials, but  they  raise  the  main  questions  of  conflict  and  point  the  way 
of  adjustment.  Thus  young  people  are  beginning  to  view  the  church  in 
an  objective  manner  and  judge  its  institutions  upon  their  merits.  This 
free  discussion  of  institutions  is  an  "admission"  that  questions  of  author- 
ity and  of  dogma  are  not  absolutely  settled.  When  a  sacred  subject  is 
once  admitted  to  discussion  it  tends  to  lose  its  divinity  and  sometimes 
its  vitality  as  a  factor  in  control. 

But  while  it  is  important  that  the  institutions  of  a  social  group  should 
be  subject  to  criticism,  this  examination  and  introspection  may,  like  the 
institutions,  become  an  end  itself.  Institutions  are  not  made  by  the 
power  of  reason  altogether  nor  are  they  reformed  for  practical  use  by 
such  a  conscious  effort.  They  are  made  and  reshaped  to  a  large  extent 
while  the  group  is  in  action.  The  more  or  less  blind,  forward  movement 
plays  also  its  part  in  selection,  creation,  and  readaptation  of  both  the 
conscious  life  and  the  social  institutions.  Analysis  and  criticism  inhibits 
natural  expression  of  impulses  in  the  group  as  well  as  in  the  individual. 
It  creates  friction  and  results  in  the  loss  of  energy.  The  Mormon  group 
was  most  active  when  it  centered  its  attention  upon  some  thing  outside  of 
itself,  upon  an  opposing  group  or  upon  some  obstacle  of  its  environment. 
Then  thought  looked  outward  rather  than  inward,  and  seemed  to  possess 
wonderful  vitality.  The  group  built  cities,  as  it  were,  in  a  day;  it  en- 
dured great  privation;  it  met  and  surmounted  a  variety  of  obstacles. 
But  it  is  with  a  social  group  as  with  an  individual,  it  tends  to  lose  its 
vigor  as  soon  as  it  becomes  self-conscious.  Its  spirit  weakens  as  soon  as 
it  begins  to  think  about  itself. 

If  the  youth  of  Mormonism  remain  content  with  the  mere  rationali- 
zation and  criticism  of  their  inherited  institutions,  nothing  worth  while 
will  be  accomplished;  they  will  end  where  they  began,  in  mere  reflection. 
What  Mormonism  needs  today  is  the  vitalization  of  its  institutions, 
which  need  to  be  put  into  use  rather  than  merely  contemplated.  They 
should  function  as  means  rather  than  be  analyzed  as  ends.  When  Mor- 
monism finds  more  glory  in  working  out  new  social  ideals  than  in  the 
contemplating  of  past  achievements  or  the  beauty  of  its  own  theological 
system,  it  will  begin  to  feel  its  old-time  strength.  The  group  spirit  will 
reappear  in  a  new  form. 

Mormonism  of  today  needs  to  emphasize  its  social  problems,  those 
which  are  felt  to  be  vital  by  all  its  classes,  its  sentimentalists,  its  rational- 
ists, its  critics.     It  needs  to  emphasize  problems  which  will  engage  the 


ioo  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  ETHICAL  ASPECTS 

attention  of  all  of  these;  one  which  will  unify  the  varied  interests  and  at 
the  same  time  force  the  attention  away  from  itself.  They  must  be  prob- 
lems to  which  every  member  of  the  church  will  respond.  They  should 
stimulate  feeling  and  thought,  and  above  all,  they  must  stimulate  action. 
There  is  a  demand  for  a  leadership  which  not  only  possesses  the 
sentiments  of  the  group  but  which  is  responsive  to  the  social  and  moral 
impulses  of  the  times.  The  men  who  feel  the  spirit  and  needs  of  the  hour, 
who  are  in  direct  contact  with  all  the  new  relations  of  life,  may  be  able  to 
unite  the  contending  factions  and  become  the  leaders  of  the  present  and 
future  generations  of  Mormonism. 


INDEX 


Abraham,  received  concubines,  16,  75 
Abram,  Lord  said  to,  15,  16 
Ames,  E.  S.,  quoted,  35,  73 

Bishop,  the  temporal  officer,  5 

Brigham  Young  University,  instruction 

and  conflict,  64,  63 
Brimhall,  G.  H.,  quoted,  66 

Caldwell  County,  22 

Clay  County,  21 

Colonization:  three  problems  of,  40; 
methods  of,  42,  43,  44,  45 ;  prose- 
lyting as  a  means  of,  43,  44 

Communistic  ideal,  origin  of,  17 

Conflict:  causes  of,  29,  30;  significance 
of,  97,  stages  of,  8 

Co-operation:  commercial,  52,  53,  54,  55; 
in  manufacturing,  50,  51,  52 

Criticism:  institutions  subject  to,  99; 
spirit  of,  61,  62,  63,  64,  65 

Doctrine  and  Covenants,  defined,  6 

Faith,  as  an  ideal,  92 
Families,  large,  46,  90 

God,  as  Spirit  of  group,  24,  95 
Godbeite  Movement,  60,  61 
Group  consciousness,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23, 
24;   stages  in  development  of,  59 

Hume,  theory  of,  89 

Immigration,  43,  44,  45,  46 

Institutions:  business,  69,  70;  as  prod- 
ucts of  past  experience,  67 

Irrigation:  co-operative  origin  of,  41,  42; 
necessity  of,  40,  41;  practices  in  Egypt 
and  by  Indian  tribes,  40,  41 

Jackson  County,  sacred  land,  18,  24 
James,  William,  quoted,  13 

Marriage:      patriarchal     order    of,     16; 

spiritual  covenant  of,  73 
Migration,  organization  for,  37,  38,  39 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  ethical  theory  of,  8S 
Missouri,  expulsion  from,  21,  22,  23 
Morality,  group,  82,  83 


Mormonism:  and  Christianity,  17;  em- 
braces temporal  interests,  4;  as  a 
process  of  adjustment,  9;  origin  of,  14; 
moral  stages  in,  80 

Nauvoo,  an  independent  city,  26 
Nibley,  C.  W.,  quoted,  92 

Penrose,  C.  W.,  quoted,  64 

Persecution,  cause  of,  19 

Polygamy:     as    cause    of    conflict,    76; 

origin  of,  75 
President,  power  of,  6 
Priesthood,  authority  and  responsibility 

of,  5,  94 
Psychology,  functional,  3 

Revenue  system,  6,  7 
Rigdon,  Sidney,  associated  with  Joseph 
Smith,  17;  quoted,  23 

Scholasticism  in  Mormonism,  98 

Secret  Constitution,  19 

Smith,  Adam,  theory  of,  84 

Smith,  Joseph:  character  of,  27,  28; 
inspired  by  group,  27,  28;  sentiment 
of  group  toward,  29;  religious  genius, 
14;  use  of  Bible  language  and  Israelit- 
ish  ideals,  15 

Smith,  Joseph  F.,  quoted,  4,  5,  67,  71,  72 

Smoot,  Reed,  quoted,  92 

Taylor,  John,  quoted,  54 
Thomas,  W.  I.,  quoted,  74 
Tithing,  6,  66,  67,  68,  92 
Tulledge,  T.  W.,  quoted,  51 

Union  Pacific  Railroad,  commercial  sig- 
nificance of,  49,  52 

United  Order:  argument  for,  51;  nature 
of,  5 

Veblin,  quoted,  66 

Woodruff,  Wilford,  quoted,  76,  78 

Young,  Brigham:  inspired  by  group,  47; 
leadership,  36;  quoted,  45 

Zion    Co-operative    Mercantile    Institu- 
tion, S3,  54,  55 
Zion,  Land  of,  15,  18 


PRINTED    IN   THE    U.S.A. 


Date  Due 


BP811.E68 

The  psychological  and  ethical  aspects  of 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00010  4184 


